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Discussion

Flush solution for UVC?

Hi! I'd like to know what other NICUs use to flush their Umbilical Veinous Catheters after drawing blood from them. We use dual lumen catheters. Our current practice is to flush with solution drawn from the bag of 1/2 normal saline with 1/2 unit of heparin/ ml, which is running at 0.5-1 ml/ hour in one of the lumens. I don't like the idea of breaking into the line even though we clean it thoroughly and use aseptic technique when doing so. Does anyone just use sterile NS without heparin for flushes? Thanks!

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    Yes normal saline flushes for uvc, half saline with heparin for uac

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    We use normal saline flushes for both UVC and UAC. The UAC has IV fluids with (0.5 or 1 unit) Heparin running at 1-2 mL/hr.

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    We use one time use NS pre-filled flushes for both UVC and UAC. However, we will use sodium acetate flushes if the sodium rises too high from frequent flushes. If that's the case, we have a separate bag specifically for flushes only sent up.

    If you are worried about breaking into your line, see if your pharmacy can send up an additional bag for the flushes to be used ONLY for flushes and leave the continuous IVF bag alone.

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    Thank you for your helpful responses!

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    I wonder if this could be a unit improvement project that you could take up. Make the system better and get some credit on your next annual review, too?

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    We use 1/2 NS with 1/2 unit heparin per mL to flush our second lumen. However, we put a bifuse at the top of the line with the heparinized flush on one port and a NSS flush on the other. We have to break into the line to piggyback a med, but if we are just flushing, the connection between the port and the heparinized flush is always intact, so we break into the line a lot less often.

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