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Local warming and insertion of peripheral venous cannulas : single blinded prospective randomised controlled trial and single blinded randomised crossover trial . OBJECTIVE To determine whether local warming of the lower arm and hand facilitates peripheral venous cannulation . DESIGN Single blinded prospective randomised controlled trial and single blinded randomised crossover trial . SETTING Neurosurgical unit and haematology ward of university hospital . PARTICIPANTS 100 neurosurgical patients and 40 patients with leukaemia who required chemotherapy . INTERVENTIONS Neurosurgical patients ' hands and forearms were covered for 15 minutes with a carbon fibre heating mitt . Patients were assigned randomly to active warming at 52 degrees C or passive insulation ( heater not activated ) . The same warming system was used for 10 minutes in patients with leukaemia . They were assigned randomly to active warming or passive insulation on day 1 and given alternative treatment during the subsequent visit . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES PRIMARY : success rate for insertion of 18 gauge cannula into vein on back of hand . SECONDARY : time required for successful cannulation . RESULTS In neurosurgical patients , it took 36 seconds ( 95 % confidence interval 31 to 40 seconds ) to insert a cannula in the active warming group and 62 ( 50 to 74 ) seconds in the passive insulation group ( P=0.002 ) . Three ( 6 % ) first attempts failed in the active warming group compared with 14 ( 28 % ) in the passive insulation group ( P=0.008 ) . The crossover study in patients with leukaemia showed that insertion time was reduced by 20 seconds ( 8 to 32 , P=0.013 ) with active warming and that failure rates at first attempt were 6 % with warming and 30 % with passive insulation ( P < 0.001 ) . CONCLUSIONS Local warming facilitates the insertion of peripheral venous cannulas , reducing both time and number of attempts required . This may decrease the time staff spend inserting cannulas , reduce supply costs , and improve patient satisfaction .
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Intervention_Physical
hands and forearms were covered for 15 minutes with a carbon fibre heating mitt
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Intervention_Physical
active warming at 52 degrees C
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Intervention_Control
passive insulation
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Outcome_Other
peripheral venous cannulation .
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Outcome_Other
success rate for insertion of 18 gauge cannula into vein on back of hand .
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Outcome_Other
time required for successful cannulation .
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Outcome_Other
insert a cannula
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Outcome_Other
failed
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Outcome_Other
insertion time
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Outcome_Other
failure rates at first attempt
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Outcome_Other
insertion of peripheral venous cannulas
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Outcome_Other
time and number of attempts required .
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Outcome_Other
time
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Outcome_Other
inserting cannulas
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Outcome_Other
supply costs
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Participant_Sample-size
100
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Participant_Sample-size
40
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Participant_Condition
leukaemia