was in ER lots of times due to variou stuff (gallstones, excessive gas, GERD) and got an IV everytime
mom always got anxious when IV was about to end
2-3 times I was alone in ER and nurses were busy (car crash victims etc were brought in) so IVs got empty with plenty of air bubbles
only thing happened to me was in 1 of those my blood got up to the IV after 10 minutes or so but nothing else happened
why air bubbles in IVs are not an emergency or looked after instantly? When called on a empty IV (not dripping anymore) nurses act cool and cut the drip valve as if everything is normal
In: 73
The danger with these bubbles generally lies with them getting pushed in. If the tubing is filled with air, and then you start injecting fluid into it without “priming” the line (filling it with fluid,) it will push the air in first.
When you’re dealing with a “dry bag” situation, the air is on top, and the fluid beneath it. When the fluid runs out, your blood pressure is higher than the air pressure, and a bit of fluid will remain in the line, and blood will actually backflow into the tubing as the pressure from your blood overcomes the tiny amount of fluid remaining. The air will not flow into your body since it’s lighter than blood and the fluid, unless something is pushing it down.
If you were to say, get a cut on your arm through a vein, you wouldn’t worry about air flowing into the cut, because the pressure of the blood exiting the vein is greater than the pressure of the air. As a matter of fact, most IVs when placed are completely open to air for a few seconds before tubing is attached (generally) and there is no concern of the air rushing into the vein at that point.
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