Peripheral Intravenous Catheter (PIV)

Important information:

• A PIV is inserted when your child needs intravenous (IV) fluids or IV medicines that cannot be given by mouth or feeding tube.

• It is a short tube that is inserted through the skin into a vein. A small needle is used to insert this catheter. The needle is removed, and the catheter stays in the vein. A PIV can be placed in the arm, hand, leg, foot, and sometimes in the scalp.

• There may be some discomfort as the needle and catheter are inserted. We try to keep your child as comfortable as possible during the placement. We can provide options for increasing comfort for your child such as positioning, distraction, guided imagery and medicines, depending on your child's age and medical condition. Child life specialists may be available to help your child cope with PIV placement.

• A dressing is placed over the PIV when it is inserted. Your child’s nurse may change the dressing if it is no longer secure.

Hourly PIV site checks:

• For safety reasons, we will be looking at the PIV every hour while fluids are going through it, even when your child is asleep. The nurse will need to check the PIV and dressing by turning on a light and comparing both arms or legs. We may need to reposition your child and remove clothing covering the arms or leg or anything else blocking the PIV site. This allows us to have a full view of the PIV.

• We check the site to keep your child safe from an IV infiltrate. An infiltrate is when the fluid traveling through the IV leaks out of the vein and into the surrounding tissue. This can lead to pain, swelling, or, in some sever cases a skin injury. You can help partner with us to prevent infiltrates.

Patient instructions to help prevent infiltrates:

If your child is experiencing pain, discomfort, swelling or redness at the IV site, the nurse will need to take a look and may call additional staff members to check the IV site. Between hourly checks, it is important that you or your child call the nurse, via the call bell, if there are any of the following symptoms:

• Swelling, especially when it looks different compared to the other arm or leg

• Pain/discomfort

• Skin is cool to the touch

• Redness/bruising

• Leakage

• Loose dressing

• Irritability

• Grabbing the IV

You can partner with us to keep your child safe from IV infiltrations by helping us catch them early — the sooner, the better. If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s IV site, please ask your child’s nurse or another member of the medical team.

Instructions for bathing:

• Your child may shower or bathe with the dressing in place, but we need to protect the dressing. The clear dressing is water-resistant, but not waterproof.

• While you are in the hospital, your child's nurse can help you place the PIV site and tubing ends in a plastic bag and tape it to the body.

• If your child is taking a bath, keep the dressing above the bath water.

• If your child is showering, they should face away from the spray, protecting the PIV site. The water should hit your child's back, not the PIV site directly.

Reviewed on April 2024, by Alyssa Reiter, RN; Eileen Nelson, RN; Meg Cates, CNS