Peripheral Venous Access in Neonates

The appropriate type of vascular access device, peripheral or central, is chosen in order to accommodate the needs of the neonate (parenteral nutrition, intravenous medication, etc.). The choice of vascular access is also related to many other factors such as gestational age, birth weight, comorbidities, previous history of infusion therapy, and ability/resources available for inserting and maintaining the device. As general rule, the vascular access device should be of the smallest outer diameter with the fewest number of lumens and should be the least invasive as possible, still considering the prescribed intravenous therapy. Peripheral venous access (PVA) is certainly the less invasive venous access device; though, venous cannulation may be a challenging procedure especially in small preterm neonates, even under perfect conditions (i.e., in ventilated and sedated