Cannulation Blood in the Flashback Chamber

[Carol Mary]

I was wondering about nurses opinions on IV cannulations. I am designing a part for cannulas and was wondering do people prefer to see the blood to know the cannula was in the vein or if there was a way of telling it is in the vein would it matter if the flashback of blood was seen or not?

Thank you

[Phase2Pro]

I need to see the flash.

[Carol Mary]

Thanks very much for all your opinions ... yes I have an idea for a way that the flashback does not have to indicate that you are in the vein by filling with blood but a device does tells you. However I was just wondering if nurses would rather still be able to see the blood as this is what everyone is used to. But yes as Mad-Mary said the patient seeing no blood would obviously be less distressing so it is a balance between the nurses opinion and what they would rather see and the patients experience of not seeing blood.

[cherrybreeze, ADN, RN]

Flashback is great, but you can still "blow" the vein, i.e. "infiltrate" it even with flashback. After cannulation, if you are in the vein you should be able to either attach tubing for a fluid bag or tubing for a saline lock. If you are "in" the vein you can lower the bag and see if blood moves into the tubing or try and withdraw blood thru a syringe gently. If you are "in" then you will see blood moving thru the tube or into the syringe and it can be easily returned without swelling or other other signs of infiltration. Reveiw IV starts in your literature, and review the many ways to tell if you have a patent IV. Hope that helps!:)

I am pretty sure this is common knowledge. Of course seeing flashback is only part of the picture. You would know if you have a patent IV despite flashback pretty quickly. No one said they believe that flashback automatically means you're in, but that it is there, when you are.

[mappers]

Flashback is great, but you can still "blow" the vein, i.e. "infiltrate" it even with flashback. After cannulation, if you are in the vein you should be able to either attach tubing for a fluid bag or tubing for a saline lock. If you are "in" the vein you can lower the bag and see if blood moves into the tubing or try and withdraw blood thru a syringe gently. If you are "in" then you will see blood moving thru the tube or into the syringe and it can be easily returned without swelling or other other signs of infiltration. Reveiw IV starts in your literature, and review the many ways to tell if you have a patent IV. Hope that helps!:)

I'm not following you. I stick the needle into the vein, I see flashback, then I know if I can advance the cannula and withdraw the needle. There is no way to attach tubing or fluids without withdrawing the needle. So I really am not understanding what you are telling me.

So, what am I missing?