Collegehumor.com Saline IV Safety...?

Question

Here is the text:
"My girlfriend is a nurse, after a night of heavy drinking, she hooks us up to Saline IVs. Takes care of the hangover in about 20 minutes!" Could someone please speculate if this is safe or healthy?

Here is the page:
http://www.collegehumor.com/picture:1728167

Does anyone know if this is (relatively) safe or if that would even work?

Answer 1

Some people in the health care industry do pilfer equipment and supplies from their employers and use the technique you describe to cure hangovers (particularly dehydration headaches common after a night's binge on ethyl alcohol). The people who do it are usually very familiar with the procedures and materials used and it is fairly safe in their hands.

However there are a few issues with it:

Fluid overload
- most of the people doing this are young and do not have heart conditions and so are quite safe from this phenomenon, but if someone (elderly or not, and there are some young people out there with cardiomyopathies) who was prone to congestive cardiac failure was to receive 1000mL of 0.9% saline IV quickly, they could go into pulmonary oedema and have breathing difficulties and perhaps die if not treated.

IV site infection
- many people who practice these forms of home therapies do not obtain all the necessary equipment to correctly insert an IV cannula with clean technique. Putting a needle and plastic tube through skin which has not been cleaned adequately can lead to tracking of infectious organisms into the veins. This can lead to cellulitis, thrombophlebitis or endocarditis. All of these are very undesirable outcomes.

Electrolyte imbalance
- saline is usually a very safe IV fluid to give. If the wrong concentration was used in a normal person or if the correct concentration was used in a person already suffering from electrolyte imbalances, this could cause or worsen any electrolyte disturbance. Most nurses would know what they are doing and would use the right stuff, but some of them ... well ... errors have been made before.

All in all - do not try this at home. If you are thinking of doing this, make sure you know all there is to know about IV cannula insertion and IV fluid rehydration.