Key findings

Audit results suggest that it is well liked by health practitioners due to the convenience and effectiveness in vasodilation.

The costs associated with the purchase of the Airglove unit and consumables may be offset by resource efficiencies in nurse time spent heating patients’ arms depending on current practice of oncology unit.

What were we asked to look at?

We were asked to provide a high level overview of Airglove.

Airglove is an air warming system used to support vasodilation and improve access to the veins for the delivery of, via cannulation, medicines such as Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapies (SACT).

The Airglove is an approved CE marked, Class I (low risk), medical device.

Why is this important?

For some patients receiving systemic anti-cancer therapies, cannulation may be difficult. In such instances, warming the arm aids vasodilation and facilitates cannulation. There is no standard practice for inducing vasodilation and often patients’ arms are immersed in warm water. This leads to inconsistency for patients, and may carry risk of burning and infection. Airglove is an alternative that can be used to heat the arm consistently using warm air.

Referred by

Green Cross Medico, manufacturer of the device.