vancomycin and peripheral iv's

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Can anyone give me any sites or info on whether or not you can give vanco in a peripheral iv. A co worker and I were discussing it but I can not find any evidence based info.

thanks

Dawn

It is commonly given in PIVs on my floor.

Someone on the vascular access team at my hospital taught me that, if you have a choice, you should pick the SMALLEST PIV for Vanc. So, if the patient has an 18 and a 20, you should run the Vanc through the 20. This is the opposite of what I would have assumed. However, he explained that smaller IVs have more blood flow around the catheter and therefore the Vanc gets mixed up and diluted with the blood faster and you decrease your risk of damaging the vessel (compared to a bigger PIV that doesn't have much blood flow around it).

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Specializes in Med_Surg, Renal, intermediate care.

I hate giving Vanco through peripherals. At my facility we always run it for 2 hours, usually at 125ml/hr. If they suppose to have Vanco for an extended amount of days, than we asked for a PICC line.

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Specializes in LTC, Acute care.

I've never thought twice about giving vanco through a patent PIV because that's the way we do it at my facility. The only time I advocate PICCs have been on patients with very scarce veins and on multiple antibiotics. Thanks to all of you now because I'll do better

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Specializes in Family Medicine.

I hate infusing vanco through PIV's. The IV site almost always goes bad. No me gusta.

Recently, pharmacy mixed a piggyback of vanco for my patient. It was 1,750 mg in 500 ml's and the label said to infuse over 1 hour. I was like, "no way Jose," and called the pharmacy to report the error. Yikes!

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Specializes in Med_Surg, Renal, intermediate care.
I hate infusing vanco through PIV's. The IV site almost always goes bad. No me gusta.

Recently, pharmacy mixed a piggyback of vanco for my patient. It was 1,750 mg in 500 ml's and the label said to infuse over 1 hour. I was like, "no way Jose," and called the pharmacy to report the error. Yikes!

LOL! now that's ridiculous!!!!!

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We change IV sites every 3-4 days at my faculty. Many times vanco shortens the life of the PIV. Our pharmacy is good enough to put the infusion rate in our MAR, so we can double check when we check it off as completed.

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I've rarely blinked at the idea. Sorry, I can't fight em all.

Honestly, I've seen WAY less complications with IV vanc than I have with IV amio and yet vanc is categorized as worse.

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working with what you have, i'd dilute it, run it slowly, and administer it at its most distal port.

then monitor, monitor, monitor. :nurse:

leslie

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