Objective: To determine the incidence of phlebitis and its predictive factors in cardiac patients hospitalized in a coronary care unit.Method: this study is a prospective cohort, conducted with 60 adult cardiac patients using peripheral intravenous therapy, admitted to the hospital sector of the coronary unit from August to December 2012. The data were analyzed using BioEstat programs 5.0 and SPSS 20.0. Non-parametric data were analyzed using the chi-square test, Fisher exact test, and Mann-Whitney test. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results:The incidence of phlebitis was 12% about the proportionality of peripheral venous catheters (n=139). There were four variables identified as predictive factors for phlebitis, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia (p=0.02), hospitalization for three days and the number punches were over two (p<0.001). Conclusion:In this study, the phlebitis rate was twice greater than the established by the international standards. The cardiac patients with diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia were 2.7 and 2.8 times the risk for phlebitis development than those who did not have these factors, respectively.

No abstract