Comparison of LED-Based Transillumination Device with Traditional Vein Viewing Methods for Difficult Intravenous Cannulation in Indian Children: A Nonrandomized Controlled Trial.

objectivesTo compare the utility of transillumination device with traditional vein viewing in situations with difficult peripheral venous access in pediatric patients.

methodsThis was a nonrandomized, controlled trial. All the children aged between 3 to 36 mo admitted in tertiary care referral hospital, who satisfied difficult intravenous access (DIVA) score of equal to or more than 4 were included in the study. The children were assigned to transillumination device group (intervention) and traditional vein viewing group (traditional). The proportion of successful cannulation in the first attempt and median number attempts required to successfully cannulate in each group were estimated.

resultsA total of 509 children were included in the study. The proportion of single attempt cannulation was significantly higher in the intervention group as compared to traditional group (p value = 0.001). The median number of attempts to successfully cannulate was found to be significantly less in the interventional group (median 1 vs. 2; p value = 0.001). On bivariate analysis, use of transillumination device was found to have a 2.64 times higher likelihood to successfully cannulate in the first attempt.

conclusionThe use of transillumination device significantly improves the first attempt success rate and number of attempts for successful cannulation.