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  1. Jan 25, '07 by bigmona
    Just curious how you give IV dilantin in your facility? The drug guide I looked in says you can administer 50 mg IV push over 2-4 mins and that you need a filter if you're going to infuse it. The vials themselves say "for IV (No Infusion) or IM use". However, when asking around at work, everyone says they just spike the dilantin into a small bag of saline and run it over half an hour to an hour. No filtered line. What do you do?

  2. 23 Comments so far...

  3. Jan 25, '07 by NurseyBaby'05
    If I add it to a bag, I draw it up with a filtered needle. Most of the time we push it through a central line. If it's a high dose, I put it in a mini-bag and run it over 30 min. My one man was on 400mg. I would have been pushing it forever. He had a port, so I wasn't so worried. I hate pushing it through hep-locks though since it's a vesicant.
  4. Jan 25, '07 by bigmona
    thanks! my patient had a port, too, and it was only 100 mg. Sounds like I could have pushed it in slow and been okay with that.
  5. Jan 26, '07 by NurseyBaby'05
    Our educator told us it's actually better to push it when you can so you can flush it really well afterward. That way there's less chance of the med crystalizing in the line.
  6. Jan 26, '07 by kimartin0623
    IV Dilantin has a very short half life. It should be given over 30min using filtered tubing. Also it should be given via central access because it is a vesicant. i hope this helps,
  7. Feb 14, '07 by Rabid Badger
    Yes I give it in a 50cc minibag through a filtered line. Give a generous flush afterward so the dilantin doesn't crystalize and cost you $1K in tPa to recover the line.
  8. Feb 20, '07 by Anagray
    We do not push dilantin on our floor and I am very happy about it. When I infuse dilantin I do it ONLY with a filter and ONLY on a very good line and ONLY with at least 25 cc flush. I have seen many horrible, horrible dilantin infiltrates coming to us from ED and ICU - I am not sure why they happen there so much.
  9. Feb 20, '07 by neneRN
    Quote from Anagray
    We do not push dilantin on our floor and I am very happy about it. When I infuse dilantin I do it ONLY with a filter and ONLY on a very good line and ONLY with at least 25 cc flush. I have seen many horrible, horrible dilantin infiltrates coming to us from ED and ICU - I am not sure why they happen there so much.
    Maybe because in the ER we are frequently giving doses of 1000mg as a loading dose; that's a big dose that we typically give over an hour. (Not that it justifies infiltrates, the site should be being monitored closely-but that's the only difference I can imagine between ED and floor)
    MassED, borik1234, and
  10. Mar 3, '07 by TeresaEDRN06
    I just wanted to add that in our ED, we make sure the pt is on a monitor, since it can lower blood pressure. We infuse it using a pump, as well.
  11. Asst. Admin
    Mar 3, '07 by VickyRN
    Pt definitely needs to be on a cardiopulmonary monitor. Can cause ECG changes. Saw a patient receiving a dilantin (phenytoin) infusion go from NSR to a wide-complex ventricular rhythm, with level of consciousness changes. (Of course, I immediately discontinued the infusion and reported this adverse effect to the physician.)

    Also, if at all possible, ask primary if intravenous fosphenytoin can be substituted for phenytoin - much safer.

    http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/...sphenytoin.htm
    http://professionals.epilepsy.com/pa...g_phenfos.html