After several months of return demo in IV therapy, my vein still hurts, what do you think is wrong?

Question

We had a practice in IV therapy back in September, my classmate used one of my veins. The next day, it bruised, and was gone after a week. But that vein (the site of insertion) still hurts for a few days and vanished. But occasionally it still hurts, what could be possibly wrong? Could it be a blood clot or something?

Answer 1

It's perfectly normal to experience some slight soreness and tenderness at the injection site.. This is very normal, and should go away within a couple of days.

A major risk of an IV sites is infection; as any break in the skin carries risks of infection. That's why such demonstration and practice requires vigilance in maintaining clean technique to decrease the likelihood of infection. I would be more worried about this than a clot formation.

Minimal requirements for aseptic techniques:

· Thorough handwashing by operator before insertion of catheter and during maintenance procedures.
· Thorough disinfection of skin of insertion site
· No touch technique during insertion, maintenance and removal of catheter
· Maintain the closed system
. Infection rates are lowest with small needles.

Signs of infection:
Observe for signs of abscesses, redness or erythema; inflammation, cellulitis, phlebitis, bacterima; swelling, and or discharge.


Another common side effect is bleeding. There is also a very small chance of the needle puncturing a blood vessel. This potentially could lead to blood clot formation. Complication of blood clot may lead to pulmonary and cerebral embolism. However, this is extremely rare. I would be more concerned about infection than clot formation.

That's why it's impt that such attempts should be done under controlled and supervised setting.

Next time refrain from experimenting amongst yourselves. Esp if you don't know or not sure of what you're doing.

No, I wouldn't worry about any clot. Just apply some ice compress to the site. Eventually, the pain from the injury (skin breakdown) should resolve and go away.

Answer 2

The most common side effect of IV sites is infection. I think you either have a lasting infection or scar tissue actually on the vein.
Infection would have other symptoms as well as pain - Swelling, redness and tenderness around the site. So I think you have scar tissue around the vein. If you are having high temperatures get it checked out as you could have a systemic infection from the site.