IV? primary bottle drips after PB starts

[psychnurse1998]

I have an IV setup at home. I connected my IV mini bag to port farthest away from patient, or piggy back port..(has one way check valve.) Raised mini bag more than one foot higher than primary bag. The primary is suppose to stop dripping when mini bag starts but it doesnt...what could i be doing wrong? This is my first time hooking up iv tubing.

[psychnurse1998]

Sometimes the one-way valve that is in the main IV line between the drip chamber and the Y-connector where you plug in the piggyback is kind of "frozen" and not working properly. Give it a snapping thump with your fingers a couple of times to help it loosen up and see if that doesn't solve the problem. The other thing I used to do when this happened is clamp off the main IV line between the drip chamber and the Y-connector where the piggyback is plugged in with a pair of hemostats for a few minutes until the piggyback gets going, take off the hemostats and see if that resolved the problem.

I tried both ..even put my engraving tool next to y fitting,..I think valve is probably really stuck..I hope medical supply dont charge too much for tubing kit..I have mini bag higher than primary bag

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

Don't worry about the cost. The main thing is to have equipment that works properly. If it means changing the tubing, then that is what you have to do. Tubing only costs a couple of dollars.

[psychnurse1998]

Don't worry about the cost. The main thing is to have equipment that works properly. If it means changing the tubing, then that is what you have to do. Tubing only costs a couple of dollars.

you are right...I couldnt find a local supplier in a hurry. So I ordered online...the shipping was more..so I ordered two. I think..each was 5 dollars..which is not bad. Plus If i learned that IV tubing can go bad., thats good too.

[psychnurse1998]

Don't worry about the cost. The main thing is to have equipment that works properly. If it means changing the tubing, then that is what you have to do. Tubing only costs a couple of dollars.

I purchased a dvd set that teaches clinical skills..not sure If I can mention product name, but it taught me how to flush the new line. I was skipping a step i didnt know about..one is suppose to invert each y port, to flush air out of them. I did that and all works fine. this set covers many clinica skils on dvd. If a picture is worth a thousand words..how many words is a moving picture worth.. I dont know but this sure saved me some time and hope it helps someone else. Nevertheless I appreciate everyones help..who knows maybe something else was wrong. But from now on, I am going to flush the Y ports to make sure.