Peripheral IV Therapy: 10 Clinical Indications & Applications

Peripheral intravenous (PIV) access enables rapid delivery of fluids, medications, and blood products. Common therapeutic uses include:

1. Fluid & electrolyte resuscitation – dehydration, sepsis, burns, major surgery.
2. IV medication administration – antibiotics, vasopressors, antiemetics, analgesics, anticonvulsants.
3. Blood product transfusion – PRBCs, platelets, plasma, cryoprecipitate.
4. Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) – when GI tract is nonfunctional or inaccessible.
5. Acute pain management – opioid PCA, ketamine, NSAIDs.
6. Severe infection treatment – broad-spectrum IV antibiotics for sepsis, endocarditis, osteomyelitis.
7. Perioperative hydration & hemodynamic support – maintenance fluids, blood loss replacement.
8. Contrast media delivery – CT angiography, IV pyelography, MRI contrast.
9. Pharmacologic stress testing – adenosine, regadenoson, dobutamine for cardiac perfusion imaging.
10. Bridge to central access – PIV used to place midline or PICC lines under ultrasound guidance.

Each indication requires clinician assessment of vein integrity, infusion duration, osmolarity, and patient-specific factors.