back flush method?help!

iluvivt, BSN, RN · Feb 13, 2011

A backflush method is done when you are giving more than one piggyback as a secondary. So if you are going to hang an antibiotic ..take the secondary tubing and place it below the level of the primary, Do not disconnect it. Fill the secondary tubing with the primary IVF..do this a few times. You are doing this to clear the tubing so you do not have any incompatibility issues. All secondaries must be compatible with the primary IV fluid but not with each other. This is a safe and acceptable way to give secondaries and not disconnect the tubing and avoids multiple secondaries,which then must be changed every 24 hrs per INS standards. Lynn Hadaway wrote a journal article with some pictures about this recently..see if you can find it.

lrc1203 · Feb 13, 2011

ok so is just the primary clamp open or is the secondary open too?

iluvivt, BSN, RN · Feb 14, 2011

Both have to be open b/c you are going to backflush the primary IVF into the tubing of the secondary...its Ok to get a bit into the secondary bag..b/c you are just going to let that drip back down. You are going to do this a few times for each new secondary hang....NOW if you are hanging the same abx you do not need to do this...only if you are going to hang incompatable secondaries

MunoRN, RN · Feb 14, 2011

Backflushing and backpriming use the same technique, you would lower the secondary bag to prime the tubing initially and prior to each subsequent dose since the secondary tubing will run at least partially dry after the infusion. Backflushing is used to not only prime the line, but to clear the line of the previous secondary infusion as well if necessary. This is done by priming until some amount of fluid has filled not only the line, but the old secondary bag as well, then remove the old secondary bag and toss it, the line is now primed with the primary solution.