biggest gauge IV??

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

We are doing test prep, specifically burns. The nurse that taught us at a major university near by, told us big bore, 14-16 for fluid resuscitation. What's the biggest gauge you have put in??? 20-22 was challenging enough!

[ckh23, BSN, RN]

14 guage

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

Where? I mean, what part of the body can you find a vein that will take that. granted, I have done mostly older pts which can be challenging.

[jmdRN]

I've put 16's in an ante-cubs before.. and had a young-ish male pt last week that I'm 99% sure I could have landed 14s in, but we were out

[sir.shocksalot]

14g in the ACs are fairly common in traumas and cardiac arrests. Most AC veins in a relatively healthy person can accommodate a 16g, when you donate blood they use 16g needles.

I would say my most common spot that I hit with a 14g is an external jugular vein, I have found smaller needles have a hard time puncturing the vessel wall.

I know that in the local ERs the average IV size is an 18g or 20g, most adults in the ER don't get anything smaller than a 20g unless they are a tough stick and thats all you can get.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

The biggest I've ever placed was a 20g but this was pediatrics where a 22 was considered a "big" IV. I've never seen anything bigger than an 18g placed and those were placed by anesthesia.

[*4!#6]

I've seen 18g standard for many emergent conditions in my textbooks. Never heard of a 14 gauge, but I guess with burns and things like sepsis you would need to unload a massive amount of fluids onto a person very quickly and that would sure do the trick.

[NCRNMDM, ASN, RN]

14 and 16 gauge IVs are very common in the ED, trauma, burn, etc setting. Any unit that relies heavily on fluid resuscitation, rapid, and massive, blood transfusions, or other rapid infusions, will use a big gauge. I'm a nursing student on a post-surgical floor that accepts surgeries, ICU step-down, and medical overflow. The only IV I've put in was a 22 gauge in a patient who had lung cancer that had metastasized to the brain. This patient had also undergone a sigmoid collectomy for ruptured diverticulitis, and she had acute peritonitis as well. She was a very hard stick, but I managed to get the IV in on the first attempt.

[ckh23, BSN, RN]

Where? I mean, what part of the body can you find a vein that will take that. granted, I have done mostly older pts which can be challenging.

Usually the AC, but sometimes the forearm. Sometimes you get those young skinny patients that have pipes that look like they would support a cordis.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

last time i gave blood they used a 13ga. minimizes hemolysis. wowza.

[lindsayalyssa]

We are doing test prep, specifically burns. The nurse that taught us at a major university near by, told us big bore, 14-16 for fluid resuscitation. What's the biggest gauge you have put in??? 20-22 was challenging enough!

i work in a level I ED...I only start 16s and 18s.

[SunshineDaisy, ASN, RN]

13!! EEK!!

I have only done 7 IV's and the biggest was an 18, took 2 tries O_o