Dopamine

[UCAFblue]

Hi everyone! I have a quick question I'm having a difficult time finding the answer to. I had a baby the other night who had a dopamine infusion going through a PIV in the left hand. During my shift I noticed some pretty significant white streaking on the arm. At first I thought it was infiltrated, but one of the more experienced nurses said that the white streaking was normal for dopamine, and that if it was infiltrated it would be red streaking. Is this correct? And if so, any idea what causes it?

[prmenrs, RN]

Re: massaging the vein, or extremity thru which your dopa is running--I've done it, usually when I was trying to convince someone to get a line placed sooner than they were inclined to do so, and the white streak going up the limb didn't seem to impress them.

I get what you're saying about the flow; you're right.