I worked on an IV Team that used buffered Lidocaine and when there was a shortage they started using bacteriostatic water instead. Since leaving the team, I have used bacteriostatic saline for peripheral IV placement but have never heard of using water. Anybody ever used it or heard of using water vs saline? I haven't found any literature to support this use but plenty to support the use of bacteriostatic saline. The team I worked on used a local for all procedures including PIV placement and now they use bacteriostatic water for all their PIV starts. Bacteriostatic saline even works well for patients allergic to Lidocaine when place a PICC or Midline, and I still use it for PIV placement. Hope someone has some thoughts of this subject. Thanks.
Warren Willard RN CRNI VA-BC
Forum topic
Fri, 01/31/2014 - 00:51
#1
Bacteriostatic water for local
For local anesthesia, it is not the saline or the water that is the active ingredient. It is the benzyl alcohol, the preservative and what allows the "bacteriostatic" label. Saline is preferred because plain water will cause osmotic shifting of fluids from inside the cell to outside the cell. But the amount of water being used for this procedure is so small, there should not be much of an issue. If you notice more local edema, it is the water causing it due to this shifting fluid. All studies have been done with bacteriostatic saline. 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