We place blood drawing IVs all the time for short timed studies or critical labs for short term patients, esp. not in ICUs where we would do an arterial line for many kids...I can answer in between your questions. Keep in mind that INS standards still say that pivs should not be used for obtaining routine lab studies. anne marie
>>> "Fritz, Donna" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 11/23/05 12:25 PM >>> We have initiated a process for tighter glycemic control during the immediate post-operative period (until pts start eating). Patients are on insulin drips with sugars tested q30-60 min. As you can imagine, that's alot of finger sticks! We were trying to come up with a way to draw blood from 1) pre-exisiting lines [STUDIES SHOW DRAWING BLOOD FROM PIVs THAT HAVE BEEN USED FOR INFUSION IS NOT A GOOD IDEA AS MANY LABS ARE SKEWED...FROM A NEW IV IS OK 2) dedicated PIV cath WE PLACE 22 OR 20 GAUGE PIVS IN CHILDREN FOR 24-48 HOUR FREQUENT LAB DRAWS. THESE ARE USUALLY HEPARIN LOCKED UNLESS COAGS ARE BEING OBTAINED IF A CHILD IS ON HEPARIN FOR DVT FOR EXAMPLE. so that we would not be sticking patients so often. However, nurses are worried about drawing discards that often from CVCs. So relating to a PIV site dedicated for blood draws, I have questions: 1. How long will the site last (in your experience)? We only need it for 1-3 days. OUR PIV SITES USUALLY LAST 1-3 DAYS, MOSTLY 1-2 AT MOST. 2. Should heparin be used to flush this PIV cath with Clave directly on the hub, since we're doing frequent blood draws? WE FLUSH WITH SALINE, THEN HEPARIN, UNLESS LABS ARE MORE FREQUENT THAN EVERY HOUR OR SO. 3. How much discard might we need to draw? WE ABIDE BY THE 3X THE DEVICE AND CONNECTOR TUBINGS RULE; IN OUR CASE, THIS IS ABOUT 1.5MLS. THE 1.5 IS THREE TIMES THE VOLUME OF THE PIV AND T-CONNECTOR TIA for your comments/answers. Donna Fritz ***************************************************************************** This communication is for the use of the intended recipient only. It may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this communication, any disclosure, copying, further distribution or use thereof is prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please advise me by return e-mail or by telephone and delete/destroy it. *****************************************************************************
