Have other hospitals changed to pressure rated saline lock extension sets? We are discussing the use of power injection in CT and MRI on hospitalized patients coming to xray with regular saline lock extension sets?
Thanks
Have other hospitals changed to pressure rated saline lock extension sets? We are discussing the use of power injection in CT and MRI on hospitalized patients coming to xray with regular saline lock extension sets?
Thanks
For any catheter of any type, the catheter and all components of the system (extension sets, needleless connector, etc) must be rated to accept the maximum pressure that can be generated by a power injector. I strongly recommend the use of an extension set on all peripheral catheters for many reasons and this would definitely need to be rated for power injectors. If you don't standardize on this type of extension set, then your staff would need to be clairvoyant to know which patient does and which does not need to have a CT. Changing from a non-power injectable extension to a power injectable extension does not seem to be the answer either as this will result in excessive manipulation of the catheter leading to phlebitis and infiltration. Doing a CT through an attached extension set that is not rated for power injection could easily result in the extension set blowing apart, causing you to have to start over with a new site, and adding costs and time, and possibly delaying the CT. And by the way, the Manual on Contrast from the American College of Radiology states that catheters dwelling longer than 24 hours have greater risk of extravasation in radiology. So another approach would be to always start a new peripheral catheter for CT contrast and then immediately remove it when the test is finished. That way you have the best choice of site, correct size of catheter, correct add-on devices, etc. for the specific procedure. Lynn
Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN, BC, CRNI
Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc.
126 Main Street, PO Box 10
Milner, GA 30257
Website http://www.hadawayassociates.com
Office Phone 770-358-7861