At our hospital we don't specify in policy, but in practice a #20ga is usually the gauge of choice. RBCs infuse better through a larger gauge, but unless the patient has great, huge veins, I find #18ga very irritating. Blood will infuse through a #22ga, but not as well. Our policy is that a unit of RBCs cannot hang for longer than 4 hours and I find the smaller the gauge, the longer the infusion takes, making it almost useless to try to infuse through a #24ga.
Originally posted by Terrie Hogan:
What's your institution's policy for transfusing blood products and is there any specifications regarding catheter size? I'v been noticing some nurses transfuse PRBC's thru 24 ga IV's. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.
Transfusions through small bore IV's
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