Triple lumen catheters

Nursing Students General Students

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For patients who have triple lumen catheters, which port is used for medication administration, and is there a specific port for withdrawal of blood samples?

Specializes in ICUs, Tele, etc..

whicever ports work, though the brown port is the biggest and would have least resistance.

Specializes in ICUs, Tele, etc..

don't quote me on the size differences now come to think of it, it may have been the gauge difference between the auxilliary port and the cvp port on swanz that have differences...i've read it before...it's one or the either...but u can draw on whichever port u want on a tlc

Specializes in ICU.

The rule of thumb is distal port (closest to the hear) is biggest so that is used for blood administration and for monitoring.

The middle port/s (four lumen) are used for inotropes and TPN since both are catastrophic if they tissue

The proximal port (closest to the skin) is used for drugs and maintenance since if the catheter migrates out it is least likely to cause damage.

Specializes in OB, ortho/neuro, home care, office.

In my experience. Brown port is for blood draws, the other ports are available for meds. When giving meds, always remember to flush all the ports though, its a courtesy thing. Plus it helps keep them clear! Hope this helps

Specializes in ER, ICU, Infusion, peds, informatics.
for patients who have triple lumen catheters, which port is used for medication administration, and is there a specific port for withdrawal of blood samples?

it depends on where you work, and what your policy is. on every tripple lumen/quad lumen i have seen, the white port is proximal and 18g, the blue port is medial and 18 g, and the brown port is distal and 16 g. for the quads, the gray port is also medial but is either a 14 or 16 g, can't remember which.

i have worked in hospitals where it didn't matter which port was used for what purpose, just as long as you got the job done. i have worked in hospitals where the white port is for tpn only, and you will be "shot" if you use it for anything else (even if the pt isn't getting tpn). i have also worked in hospitals where the white port was for tpn if they had tpn; otherwise you could use it for whatever you wanted to use it for. (the reasoning behind this is that tpn has such a high sugar content, it is a very good medium for bacterial growth. restricting use of the port to tpn is supposed to limit entries into the port, keeping it sterile and limit the chances of the pt getting a line infection.)

i was once told that by convention, the white port is for tpn, the blue port is for meds, and the brown port is for fluids/blood draws.

bottom line: check the policy of whatever facility you are working in.

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