A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Aloe Vera Application versus Thrombophob Gel Application on Reduction of Intravenous Phlebitis among Adult Patients at PRS Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram

ABSTRACT Intravenous phlebitis is a common complication of peripheral intravenous cannulation that causes pain and discomfort among hospitalized patients. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of aloe vera application versus thrombophob gel application on reduction of intravenous phlebitis among adult patients. A quantitative true experimental post-test only control group design was adopted, and sixty adult patients aged 25–64 years with intravenous phlebitis admitted in the medical ward of PRS Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram were selected using simple random sampling and randomly assigned to experimental (n = 30) and control (n = 30) groups. Aloe vera gel was applied to the experimental group, while thrombophob gel was applied to the control group, and the severity of phlebitis was assessed using the Visual Infusion Phlebitis (VIP) scale. The results revealed a highly significant reduction in intravenous phlebitis in the experimental group following aloe vera application (t = 7.9026, p = 0.0001), whereas no significant reduction was observed in the control group after thrombophob gel application (t = 0.3330, p > 0.05). The study concludes that aloe vera application is more effective than thrombophob gel in reducing intravenous phlebitis and can be recommended as a safe, cost-effective nursing intervention in clinical practice.