Complications from i.v. therapy: results from field-started and emergency department-started i.v.'s compared.

Because the complications resulting from IV therapy started outside the hospital seem inordinately higher than those resulting from IV therapy started in the emergency department, we undertook a comparative two-month study of the complications resulting from both sources. We found the number and severity of complications from IV therapy started in the field significantly greater than complications from that started in the ED. The phlebitis rate in the prehospital group was 4.65 times that in the ED group (P less than .001). The percentage of patients with unexplained fever in the prehospital group was 5.58 times that in the ED group (P less than .01). Means for reducing the complications and areas for further research are suggested.