Department Blog

Posted 6/15/2015 by Linda Kesselring

Article Documents Incidence of Difficult IV Access

Michael Witting, MD, MS, and Mak Moayedi, MD, published an article titled “Incidence of Advanced Intravenous Access in 2 Urban EDs” in the May 2015 issue of the American Journal of Emergency Medicine. Their co-authors include Bryan Stover, MD, and Ashley Miller, BA, who were students at the University of Maryland School of Medicine at the time of the study and manuscript preparation. The investigators found a similar incidence (3.2%) in the need for advanced techniques to establish an IV line at UMMC’s adult ED and the ED at Mercy Medical Center. Their findings have implications for resource utilization, including strategies to minimize the delays in care that are associated with difficulty in gaining IV access.