Adult

The first criterion for choosing the DAV in the adult is the clinical setting: election or emergency/ urgency.

The devices for venous access appropriate in emergency/urgency in the adult patient are substantially all short-term DAV, either peripheral (short cannulas and long cannulas, i.e mini-midlines) or central (non-tunneled CICC and FICC). As part of the emergency/urgency, as a rule, neither the PICCs nor the traditional midlines (midclavicular) nor the tunneled catheters nor the devices for long-term venous access have a role.

It is important to underline that with the term 'urgency' we also refer to peripheral and central VADs positioned in an unplanned way in the operating room, before an urgent or non-urgent surgical intervention. These VADs should be preferentially removed within 24-48 hours; in fact, urgent placement (or in any case, in a hurried and unscheduled manner) is not usually compatible with an appropriate adherence to international  recommendations for infection prevention.