baylordave16

Perhaps I am the only one who has thought about this, but I would love to hear your thoughts. I got this idea when I had a patient with a #20 IV and no other access but amiodarone had to be started immediately. Start a NS line and piggyback the amiodarone as far away from the IV site as possible into the NS line. It would dilute the amiodarone prior to reaching the patient and prevent as much irritation to the vein. I know our protocol says to remove the IV site every 24 hours but I checked it and it looks beautiful and flushes great after the 24 hour period now that the amiodarone has been d/c'd. Absolutely no complaints from patient. I believe the latest research suggests that 24% of patients even with a large bore IV experience phlebitis after an amiodarone infusion so I was very pleased with this result.