The American journal of emergency medicine
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Multicenter Study
Incidence of advanced intravenous access in 2 urban EDs.
In an emergency department (ED), intravenous (IV) access is frequently accomplished by inspection and palpation of peripheral veins. Failure of these methods indicates severe IV access difficulty and necessitates advanced techniques. Here, we estimate the incidence of advanced IV access in 2 urban EDs with varying resident coverage. ⋯ Advanced IV access is needed in 3.2% of IV attempts in 2 urban EDs with varying levels of resident coverage. We found similar incidence in both EDs.