I am currently on iv antibiotics through my port. I had my second antibiotic running without the alarm on and I fell asleep. When I woke up like an hour later, my line had blood filling it from my needle all the way into the first part of my med tubing. I immediately flushed it with saline and locked it with heparin, but now I'm really worried. My doctor doesn't even draw back blood when we access it because it breeds infection. And now the blood could have clotted or whatever. Has this happened to anyone else? Should I be worried? If I call my doctor, I am sure he will use this as an excuse to keep me in the hospital the whole time next time. But I think it could have happened in the hospital too. Sometimes they can't get to me right when my meds are done.
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Blood in my port
- Thread starter Jeana
- Start date
K
kgfrompa
Guest
This has happened to me also.
K
kgfrompa
Guest
This has happened to me also.
K
kgfrompa
Guest
This has happened to me also.
Hi, not to worry. My patients always called me "Our Lady of Ports". Ports are desinged to be able to draw blood and you should be checking for blood return each time you access it and before running anything through it. The needle can "ride up" out of the septum, or the line can get clogged and a good blood return is the only way to tell if it is tryly patent.
That said, I appreciate your doctor's not wanting to do blood sampling from the port because if people are not trained properly they can certainly clog the line by taking too long and the blood starts to clot, or by not flushing properly.
I've been dealing with ports for about 20 years now and if you flush with two 10cc syringes of normal saline in a "push-stop" method this causes turbulence within the port and flushes out better than just pushing the saline thru in one motion. Likewise for the heparin.
The main thing to look for after your incident, is any slowing down of flow. Is it harder to flush, does the IV take longer to go thru, are you getting occlusion alarms? If none of these occur, than no harm has been done.
Good Luck!
That said, I appreciate your doctor's not wanting to do blood sampling from the port because if people are not trained properly they can certainly clog the line by taking too long and the blood starts to clot, or by not flushing properly.
I've been dealing with ports for about 20 years now and if you flush with two 10cc syringes of normal saline in a "push-stop" method this causes turbulence within the port and flushes out better than just pushing the saline thru in one motion. Likewise for the heparin.
The main thing to look for after your incident, is any slowing down of flow. Is it harder to flush, does the IV take longer to go thru, are you getting occlusion alarms? If none of these occur, than no harm has been done.
Good Luck!
CrisDopher
New member
Yeah, the blood is fine. It was very diluted w/ the last of your medicine. And, as djcfnurse notes, your nurse SHOULD be drawing back blood upon access. A port that will flush but won't draw back is on its last legs....
Cris
Cris
Asexyblond23
New member
I have had 2 ports now for a total of 13 years. Yes that is totally normal. Has happend to me a bunch of times. But I agree with the others, you should be pulling back to check for blood return before you flush a port when you access it, or even use each med. If you are like me you can get fibrin sheeths in your line (tiny skinny clots) which will clog your port and you DO NOT want to push that thru your line into your heart. It can cause pulmonary embolizim or worse! Very dangerous. Always check for blood to make sure your line is clear
This happened to me a few times when I've fallen asleep with my iv's running. As long as you were able to flush the line and seal it with the heparin without trouble you should be OK. Mention it to your doctor or nurse that comes and takes care of the line. They may be able to put your mind more at ease. They definately should be checking for a blood return though, my nurse always stresses that is important. Feel better soon!