How Serious Is Air in an I.V. Line?

[MIGrandma]

DH had a colonoscopy this morning (his second). The nurse that started the I.V. line couldn't get it to work. She finally figured out the line hadn't been cleared, and there was air in it. She got a syringe and it looked like she took the air out that way, then she turned to me and said "well, that could have been deadly." I said "he could have died from the air in the line?" She said yes.

So, when the doctor came to talk to us after the procedure was over I asked him about it and he said it would have to be "a lot of air" injected into his vein to cause a problem and he didn't seem at all concerned.

So, how much air in an I.V. line is too much and can cause death?

I did a bit of research about it on-line, but it's difficult to understand most of the medical terminology, so if there are some medical people here who could explain more I would appreciate it.

I'm supposed to have another colonoscopy next week, and now I'm fearful of air in the I.V. line.

 

[crayon3448]

It would take quite a bit of air in an IV line to cause a problem, more than a small syringe-full - the IV goes into your vein, which carries unoxygenated blood so it can absorb smaller amounts of air very easily. It is way more dangerous to have air going into a line that goes into your arteries, but those types of lines are not nearly as common (usually intensive care type situations).

 

[Pea-n-Me]

It is not something you should spend much time worrying about.

It sounds like the line wasn't primed correctly (which is done on set up). Rare for that to happen. And if it does happen, it won't really run, as you saw.

Normally there's just a tiny air bubble here and there as It's impossible to get every single bubble out. But as the doctor said, those won't hurt you.

She could have chosen better words to explain it.

 

[MomRN]

A pretty large amount. I tell my new nurses to be careful and to clear the line, but mainly because it freaks the patient out to see an air bubble. I would think it would almost have to be intentional to have that much air in a line to cause a problem, although I'm sure there are instances that it has happened accidentally... just none that I have ever heard of.

 

[Skywise]

A pretty large amount. I tell my new nurses to be careful and to clear the line, but mainly because it freaks the patient out to see an air bubble.

This for sure - I was on an IV for a kidney stone way back when, knew about the "air in the IV line" issue and watched as a tiny air bubble traveled down the IV and into my arm. If I recall correctly it hit a "junction" that the IV was plugged into in my arm and dispersed and the nurse wasn't concerned when I pointed it out a few minutes later (and wasn't dead)... but my thoughts at the time were still "uh.. wait a sec... isn't that... "bad"(tm)?!

 

[dakcp2001]

A pretty large amount. I tell my new nurses to be careful and to clear the line, but mainly because it freaks the patient out to see an air bubble. I would think it would almost have to be intentional to have that much air in a line to cause a problem, although I'm sure there are instances that it has happened accidentally... just none that I have ever heard of.

I tell my new nurses the same thing! Patients have seen on TV that a small bubble can be injected in a sinister fashion to murder them. I have seen a lot of air get in via an iv line and no one dead yet from it. I have seen bags run dry when the pump is programmed incorrectly etc. It would take a lot of air to kill someone. Not something to worry about.

 

[minkydog]

DH had a colonoscopy this morning (his second). The nurse that started the I.V. line couldn't get it to work. She finally figured out the line hadn't been cleared, and there was air in it. She got a syringe and it looked like she took the air out that way, then she turned to me and said "well, that could have been deadly." I said "he could have died from the air in the line?" She said yes.

So, when the doctor came to talk to us after the procedure was over I asked him about it and he said it would have to be "a lot of air" injected into his vein to cause a problem and he didn't seem at all concerned.

So, how much air in an I.V. line is too much and can cause death?

I did a bit of research about it on-line, but it's difficult to understand most of the medical terminology, so if there are some medical people here who could explain more I would appreciate it.

I'm supposed to have another colonoscopy next week, and now I'm fearful of air in the I.V. line.

That nurse was uninformed and waaaaay off base. This kind of stuff makes me crazy! She had no reason to frighten you like that. It would take a whale of a lot of air in the line--like the entire length of tubing or more, under pressure(like hand-squeezing it in)--to cause a deadly situation. And once the IV bag is empty, it stops running before it gets down to your hand. The pump will stop and alarm like crazy and it won't pump any more until a nurse hangs a new bag and resets the pump. At that point, all the air will be removed by the nurse, if there is any, and the pump will be started up again.

I'd like to reassure you about your colonoscopy next week. You don't need to worry about the IV. They do this all the time and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to run an IV. That other nurse was a buffoon.

 

[Jennasis]

A vet once told me that in vet school they had to euthanize rabbits by injecting air into them...and that it took something like a 60cc syringe full of air to do it. A few bubbles won't do a darn thing (but you can feel them travel!)

 

[scbelleatheart]

A vet once told me that in vet school they had to euthanize rabbits by injecting air into them...and that it took something like a 60cc syringe full of air to do it. A few bubbles won't do a darn thing (but you can feel them travel!)

Jen is right!

 

[MIGrandma]

Thank you everyone for reassuring me about this.

I can't imagine why the nurse said what she did, to scare us (me!) like that.

I hope I don't get her starting my I.V. next week when I have my colonoscopy!

 

[minkydog]

Thank you everyone for reassuring me about this.

I can't imagine why the nurse said what she did, to scare us (me!) like that.

I hope I don't get her starting my I.V. next week when I have my colonoscopy!

You can ask for a different nurse. Tell them you want to speak to the charge nurse or the nurse manager.

 

[Disney Doll]

That was a stupid thing for that nurse to say.

You'd need a whole lot of air injected (not slowly flowing in through an IV line) to do any harm.

Remember that your blood is oxygenated, so there are air bubbles in it all the time.

I hate when nurses say and do stupid stuff...makes the rest of us look bad.

 

[bittybabygrower]

You took the words right out of my mouth. Why would you say that, good grief. I would have had a word with the manager on that one. Can't fix stupid, and one stupid nurse can make the lot of us look bad.

 

[dakcp2001]

She might not have been an actual nurse. Not everyone who wears scrubs bears the title nurse. She might have been a Medical Assistant or a Nurse Tech, in some places they can start ivs. Their education and training is different.