Saline injection vs saline irrigation why do they say don't injection irrigation c

[PJAAA]

Can you use saline irrigation in place of saline injection if none available and why does it say on drug label the exact same thing but warning don't inject.

[emtpbill, ASN, RN, EMT-P]

No no no, don't use irrigation for injection! It's not sterile and the buffers may not be to exacting specifications.

[offlabel]

Because it isn't prepared to the same threshold tolerances for particulate matter as NS for injection. Short answer, there's stuff floating around in it.

[offlabel]

No no no, don't use irrigation for injection! It's not sterile and the buffers may not be to exacting specifications.

It is sterile. And there is no difference in the chemical make up of the basic solutions. The reality is that NS irrigation fluid is absorbed IV in operating rooms every day. It is poured into open surgical wounds by the liter routinely.

It's just not manufactured specifically for direct IV use, so it's not good form to use it that way.

[jwk]

It is sterile. And there is no difference in the chemical make up of the basic solutions. The reality is that NS irrigation fluid is absorbed IV in operating rooms every day. It is poured into open surgical wounds by the liter routinely.

It's just not manufactured specifically for direct IV use, so it's not good form to use it that way.

Of course it's sterile. And this isn't exactly rocket science chemistry. Many years ago when I ran a cellsaver service, we wanted to use the larger 3L bags to rinse the red blood cells which were then re-infused. Back then, I had a letter from the manufacturer of our fluid products stating that what was in the 3L bags of NS was exactly the same as what was in the 1L bags or smaller. Whether that's true now or holds or held true for all manufacturers I have no idea. We were also told that anything larger than a 1L bag could not be labeled for IV use - although clearly custom-mixed TPN infusions would be an exception to that.