Resource Utilization and Cost of Inserting Peripheral Intravenous Catheters in Hospitalized Children

Findings: The insertion of peripheral IV catheters in an inpatient setting can be time intensive and requires significant skill.The median cost of the pediatric IV insertions was $41, and 60% of the placements were obtained with the first nurse. Seventy-two percent of the children had a successful IV insertion in 1 to 2 attempts and accounted for 53% of total costs. However, the 28% of children who required > or = 3 IV attempts had a cost range of $69 to more than $125, and they consumed 43% of the total IV costs. This subset was often < 2 years old or dehydrated (P = .0002).