Yet another IV question

[Dancin'Mom]

I've been a nurse for about 10 months, still perfecting my IV technique. How does one avoid twisting of the catheter when attaching the luer-lock tubing to the catheter? I sometimes have lost blood flow after attaching the tubing to the actual catheter. It always wants to turn on me. Hopefully, someone else also has this problem or knows what I mean. Thanks.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Are you stabilizing the catheter with your index finger and thumb of your non-dominant hand while you attach the Luer lock? You can push the lumen of the Luer lock into the catheter firmly (it'll stay there) and then twist the connector down. Don't try to push and twist at the same time, break it down into two steps and you'll have better success.

[care4you]

i would suggest using the butterfly catheter instead of the straight. this would totally eliminate the chances of twisting the catheter and would give you a little more length to work with then attaching the tubing.

just my two cents

[Overland1, RN]

i would suggest using the butterfly catheter instead of the straight. this would totally eliminate the chances of twisting the catheter and would give you a little more length to work with then attaching the tubing.

just my two cents

you must be referring to the b-d (saf-t-intima?) catheter that has "wings" like a butterfly needle.

i actually like those, but advise that the needle must br retracted briskly and completely to avoid poking a hole in the tubing. the only other problem i see with those is they (last i heard) will not withstand the high pressure of an iv contrast injection.

if that catheter would hold up under high pressures (brief infusions @ 5 ml/sec.), it would be great.