Air in IV lines/syringes

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I get so many various answers I'd thought I would throw it out here.

How much air in a IV line is too much?

I am so paranoid about air in lines and syringes. Reason being is that a few years back a coworker of my mom's died after she was injected with too much air from a syringe. A young mom that was in for a D&C to help concieve again. I know it had to be a big error and not just some little air bubble.

I've always been told that it should be as little air as possible should be getting in but that 20mls is about the limit.

Pts do freak out when the air-in-line alarm comes up - they think that 2cm bit of air is going to cause some huge air embolism and kill them!

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I've always been told that it should be as little air as possible should be getting in but that 20mls is about the limit.

Pts do freak out when the air-in-line alarm comes up - they think that 2cm bit of air is going to cause some huge air embolism and kill them!

At my last AVA meeting we looked at a case study where a nurse injected Rocephin using a 50ml syringe, 30ml of fluid was drawn up. For some reason the plunger was pulled back leaving 20ml of air in the syringe. The patient commented on the air but the entire syringe was pushed in. She immediately felt something was wrong, was SOB, and had chest pain. The nurse left the patient telling her she was fine, just anxious. Her husband took her to the hospital where a PE was discovered.

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Hi, I was thinking about this today. The D& C may have been the source of the air embolism and not the IV line. See the article by Stephanie Gordy & Susan Rowel, Vascular Air Embolism. Doi: 10.4103/2229-5151.109428

Oh also check Wikipedia on air embolism, it clearly states that the uterus can be a source of air embolism.

It seems like the nurses agree that some bubbles in an IV line are harmless.

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How strange, rocephin usually is given over an hour for IV injection. What a bizarre practice for giving IV ceftriaxone. Not just the air injection but the bolus of it.

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How strange, rocephin usually is given over an hour for IV injection. What a bizarre practice for giving IV ceftriaxone. Not just the air injection but the bolus of it.

We regularly give Rocephin IV push on the Med/Surg floor I work on. In the past it was always ordered IVPB over 30 mins. to an hour but I haven't seen it ordered that way in a while.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Where I used to work we gave rocephin IVP over 3-5 minutes. Bad for IVs though. If your IV is in its last hours it may be gone after rocephin. Patients complained about it burning.

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[quote=Lev

I've noticed the same. I wish we didn't have to give it IVP but we have no choice since all they stock in the Pyxis are the vials. We don't have piggyback bags either if I wanted to mix it myself and give it IVPB.

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We routinely give Rocephin via syringe driver/Baxa pump. Usually 20-30mins depending on the dose.

I've seen it give IVP a handful of times, but I have never seen it given over an hour! :)

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We regularly give Rocephin IV push on the Med/Surg floor I work on. In the past it was always ordered IVPB over 30 mins. to an hour but I haven't seen it ordered that way in a while.

We give Rocephin usually over 20-30min via syringe driver/Baxa pump. Pharmacy pre-mixes syringes for us and we store them in the freezer. I believe 1g per syringe. I've only seen it give IVP a handful of times and never given over an hour.

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Specializes in Infusion Nursing, Home Health Infusion.

IVP antibiotics are given more frequently in home care . I have give IVP Rochepin many times for home care patients. A good option if they are sensitive because of its daily dosing and its ease of infusion being either IV push or by syringe pump in the home setting.

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So how long before the air gets desolved and goes through the pie hole? Minutes days hours? What are the symptoms of to much air in the veins?

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