Peripheral I.V. (Intra-Venous) catheter is a small flexible tube, which is placed into a peripheral vein either to administer medications or fluids directly into the vein, or to draw blood from the patient’s body. These catheters are generally made up of a material, such as silicone and do not irritate patient’s skin and also help in negating any side effects caused, when these catheters are left in the patient’s arm for several weeks or months. These catheters are introduced into the patient’s peripheral vein using a needle and are fixed to the patient’s skin with an adhesive tape. The needle is then removed carefully, leaving a small tube of the cannula at the insertion site.
Peripheral I.V. catheters are generally accessed to provide therapies, which cannot be given through or are less effective if given by alternative routes. Therapies such as, IV hydration and nutritional support can be easily administered to a patient with severe vomiting or abdominal pain from a surgical condition. Certain medications are more effective, when they are given intravenously due to their rapid onset or increased bioavailability. Some clinical situations like cardiac arrest, requires treatment using the IV medications and the blood products must be given intravenously. In some instances, IV catheters are left in place when medications like antibiotics are given intermittently administered over a longer duration of time.
Parenteral dosage forms are intended for administration, as an injection or infusion. Parenteral administration of drug is one of the most widespread methods of drug delivery. Intramuscular, intravenous and subcutaneous are the major type of injections for the administration of drugs. The main problems associated with parenteral drug delivery are lack of safety, sterility, affordability, and convenience.
The growing geriatric population, increasing prevalence of chronic and lifestyle associated disease, technological advancement in peripheral I.V. catheter, growth of biologics and biosimilars, are some of the factors driving the growth of the global peripheral I.V. catheter market.
The adoption of peripheral I.V. catheters in the emerging economies is expected to provide a huge growth potential for the market, during the forthcoming years. The growth will be driven by the increasing healthcare awareness, increasing healthcare spends, and regulatory initiatives for needle stick injuries. The countries, such as China, Brazil and India having a large population base, are still lacking primary healthcare facilities. The incidence rates of various chronic diseases is high in these countries, due to lack of awareness of healthcare. Moreover, various initiatives have been taken worldwide to create healthcare awareness and accelerate the adoption pace of safety devices with advance peripheral intravenous catheters, such as safety I.V. catheters in the region.
The key companies operating in the global peripheral I.V. catheter market include Becton, Dickinson and Company, Terumo Corporation, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Teleflex Incorporated, Smiths Medical Inc., C.R. Bard Inc., Tangent Medical Technologies Inc., VIGMED AB, Argon Medical Devices Inc., and Medical Components Inc.