It’s not as horrible as the tales claim. In a stable healthy patient, it can take as much as 100ml/cc of air to harm you.
The air will diffuse and absorb into the blood as it circulates. When priming IV tubing it isn’t uncommon to have some air trapped in the line. It doesn’t kill people like the stories say. I have personally watched quite a bit of air enter people’s veins through their IVs and not a single issue to follow.
It is best practice to not have air in the tubing, but it does happen.
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