Forcing fluid through drip to fast into vein...is this dangerous?!


Question: my partner had an emergency operation to remove his appendics in the middle east and im concerned cause he has a drip putting antibiotics into his vein on his hand and the bottle was half full when the nurse came in to change bottle and instead of waiting for it to drip in slowly she squeesed all the fluid in at once which caused him pain and made him dizzy.Is this wrong. also she changed the dressing on his wound without gloves on and i didnt see her wash her hands i am worried it will cause infection.

Answers: my partner had an emergency operation to remove his appendics in the middle east and im concerned cause he has a drip putting antibiotics into his vein on his hand and the bottle was half full when the nurse came in to change bottle and instead of waiting for it to drip in slowly she squeesed all the fluid in at once which caused him pain and made him dizzy.Is this wrong. also she changed the dressing on his wound without gloves on and i didnt see her wash her hands i am worried it will cause infection.
Sh1t! I'd be a bit worried too. If there is a danger, it is the danger of damaging the vein, distension due to the over pressure. I would expect it to be painful, though the drip is going into a vein and not an artery, thank God. It is very unlikely that the vein would rupture, but not impossible.

The point is, the antibiotic should be drip fed over a period of time in order for it to stay at a steady level in the system, thus working continuously over that time, and not "shot" into the blood stream in a short sharp blast.

It is more likely the thought of it that makes him feel dizzy, since venous blood is on the return side of the circulatory system it gets well mixed with blood returning from all over the body, even so, it is bad practice.

I'd say go to Blackpool next year!!
thanks to everyone who took the time to help me all the answers are very helpful thanks so much means a lot to me xx Report It

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  • VeeBee's Avatar by VeeBee
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    • Dangerous and wrong, the IV fluids are ordered by a physician at a specific rate, and they are delivered this way due to the effects your friend experienced. The nurse delivered the wrong amount of medication , patient must talk to supervisor, about both issues, an infection is the last thing one needs, you are right to be worried and should speak up and ask for another RN.
    Neither action is likely to be particularly problematical. A few drugs have to be infused slowly, however most antibiotics can be given as bolus ( all at once injections,) as well as by IV drip. As far as the dressing is concerned provided she hand washed properly, it was not essential to use gloves.
    Don't panic.

    Although the above is not best practice it's unlikely to be dangerous, I've "forced" the occasional lazy drip into the patients arm in a similar way and this doesn't cause a problem providing the cannulae is positioned accurately within the vein, however - the fact that this was painful suggests the cannula may not be perfectly sited and therefore leakage into surrounding tissue - it may need re-siting. Most IV antibiotics can be given quickly.... we used to give full doses via a syringe in 10-15sec (now mainly given in 100ml bags). The nurse should have worn gloves when changing the dressing, this can lead to infection at the cannula site and therefore into the vein, this will show as phlebitis (inflammation of the vein) and is a recognised risk of iv cannulation. Risk is reduced by using gloves. It's unlikely that phlebitis develops to blood poisoning providing the cannula is removed as soon as phlebitis is stopped.

    What you say is not really quality care but the risk may not be as high as you think.


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