Saline flush..saline taste?

[Gabriel13]

I'm sure many of you are aware of this phenomenon. When you go to flush your patient's IV lock, with say...a 10cc pre-filled syringe of normal saline, they experience this taste or sometimes a smell. I've heard it described as "metallic" or "salty." Can anyone out there explain to me the physiology of how this happens?

[I1tobern]

Never tasted the saline, but you better know that when I was taking chemo, as soon as the drug hit the vein, I had this horrible taste that was like diesel exhaust.

[BabyRN2Be]

In my personal experience I have tasted and smelled the saline flush, but it did not bother me...I just thought it was cool. :nuke: Good question, I wonder myself.

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I had a PICC line for hyperemesis. I could ALWAYS taste and "smell" a flush. I put "smell" in quotes as with me it wasn't really a smell, but a sensation in my nose along with the taste. It was pretty cool in a way. Not so cool to be stuck with a PICC line. A lot of the pics taken of me when pregnant showed the coban around my arm. I requested blue or black coban as I hated to stand out with hot pink coban. Off the subject but thought I'd sure.

[rn undisclosed name]

I have never noticed this with a peripheral line. Patients frequently tell me of this phenomen with central line. Most specifically ports. I wonder if it's because they are closer to the head. But, then again not all patients experience this. Some patients who are really sensitive to this I have had use a mint to disguise the taste. The patients who are most sensitive are the ones receiving chemo.

[danggirl]

I have been trying to figure this out for a long time because almost nightly in the ER someone asks me why. I personally have experience it but only when it is a flush and not via a running infusion. I actually think it "smells" like skunk! It's sort of a taste-smell and I'm guessing it has to do with a combination of highly vascular structures and the chemoreceptors. I do sometimes hear people say similar things about other medications but not often. Definitely curious to read of any concrete physiological reason!

[traveliilearn]

I usually tell my patients that they may experience it, and that doesn't mean anything is wrong, as a matter of fact, it means I've got a good iv. Puts them at ease when they get the taste if they are expecting it.

[danggirl]

most definitely that! it's another good check of IV patency!

[SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2806387/

[Trekfan]

I always can smell it . It's a very strong alcohol kind of smell .

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

I warn my patients about this. Not all of them experience it, though. I'd heard similar reasoning to the link that SoldierNurse22 posted, and also to tell patients if it's terribly bothersome that they should hold their breath when having their IV flushed. Not sure if that works, though.

[RNLaborNurse4U]

Thanks for the link to that study. That actually was quite helpful in trying to figure out the pathophysiology of why this happens. I notice it every time I have NSS flushes done on my peripheral IV (when I've been a patient). I do warn my patients that they might taste or smell salt or a metallic flavor when I flush their IV site.