Abstract
Critically ill infants often require long-term peripheral arterial lines to monitor blood pressures and provide access for frequent blood gas monitoring. Neonatal vessels, due to their small and delicate vasculature, are prone to vasospasms that decrease the duration of the line. Papaverine, an anti-vasospastic drug used in the adult population, has had little research conducted in the neonatal population. Purpose: To compare the patency duration of peripheral arterial lines with papaverine to those without papaverine in the neonatal population. Research Design & Population: A retrospective chart review was completed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska. The study was conducted on sixty patients 25-40 weeks gestation with peripheral arterial lines between the months of June 2012 and August 2013. Line duration in days was recorded, as well as if the infant had a congenital heart defect and/or intraventricular hemorrhage. Results: There was no statistical significance in line duration when comparing papaverine-infused peripheral arterial lines and those without papaverine, but infants with papaverine had one day improved patency duration.