How do you calculate rate of IV piggyback?

ageless · Jul 19, 2005

.......If you are using an IV pump, speak with an instructor on how to set the pump. Or have the instructor show you how to tie in a piggyback by gravity. a picture is worth a thousand words and too many words and variables would be needed to explain all of that here.

Best wishes!

sweetieann · Oct 13, 2005

or Piggyback Infusion

6. Attach infusion tubing to the piggyback set containing diluted medication. Place label on tubing with appropriate date and attach needle or needleless device to end of tubing according to manufacturer's directions. Open clamp and prime tubing. (See Action 4, Procedure 45-1.) Close clamp.

7. Hang piggyback container on IV pole, positioning it higher than the primary IV according to manufacturer's recommendations. Use metal or plastic hook to lower primary IV.

8. Use alcohol swab to clean appropriate port.

9. Connect piggyback setup to either:

a. Needleless port

b. Stopcock: Turn stopcock to open position.

c. Primary IV line: Uncap needle and insert into secondary IV port closest to the top of the primary tubing. Use a strip of tape to secure secondary set tubing to primary infusion tubing. Primary line is left unclamped if port has a back-flow valve.

10. Open clamp on piggyback set and regulate flow at the prescribed delivery rate or set rate for secondary infusion on infusion pump. Monitor medication infusion at periodic intervals.

11. Clamp tubing on piggyback set when solution is infused. Follow agency policy regarding disposal of equipment.

12. Readjust flow rate of the primary IV.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Oct 16, 2005

after you connect the iv piggyback with the primary solution, are you supposed to use the regulator clamp of the primary solution to calculate the drip rate?

if your ivpb is merged into the main iv line above the roller/regulator clamp, yes. if your ivpb is connected to the main iv line below the roller/regulator clamp of the main iv line, the you regulate the clamp on the ivpb tubing.

when calculating the drip rate, are you looking at the drip chamber of the primary solution or the drip chamber of the ivpb?

you should be looking at the drip chamber of the ivpb because that is the fluid you want dripping. while the ivpb is dripping, there should be no dripping of the iv fluid from the main iv bag if the ivpb is hanging far enough above it. gravity will automatically cut off the flow of the main iv fluid.

are the numbers for calculating the drip rate come from the order of the primary solution or the order of the ivpb?

it comes from the order for the ivpb. if the pharmacy is mixing the solution (or sending labels to put on what you mix) they will usually state a time over which the ivpb is to be infused. so, to calculate this you take the total amount of solution in the piggyback (generally 50-100cc) and the time the pharmacist (or doctor) has told you to infuse it by (generally from 20 minutes to an hour) and you compute your drip rate for it. i worked in one hospital that had a standing policy that piggybacks were to be infused over one hour unless the pharmacist told us differently. the ivpb runs separately from the main iv bag of fluids. do not attempt to play "catch up" with the main iv fluid that is infusing. you run the risk of putting your patient into congestive failure or fluid overload. run your ivpb over, let's say, an hour, and then switch back to your main iv fluid at whatever rate it was supposed to run at.