‘Piggy-backing’ made easy with needle-free IV accessories
In certain situations, clinicians may wish to combine traditional IV fluid therapy with the administration of an IV medication, such as with a constant rate infusion (CRI), or intermittent bolus via syringe pump.
Such IV set-ups are commonly referred to as ‘piggy-backing’.
GVP’s range of needle-free accessories makes this take much easier and more convenient. In this article we look at various options to facilitate multiple simultaneous infusions.
Administration close to patient
In most cases, you will want the second IV line (e.g. CRI) to attach to (join) your primary IV line (e.g. from fluid pump) as close to the IV cannula as possible.
Ordinarily, many practices use T-Connectors (such as our IVTCONMB) as their initial attachment to the IV cannula.
However, by substituting a GVP Needle-free Twin Extension Set in place of the T-Connector, you’ll now have two ports available.
On the first port, attach your main fluid line. On the second port, attach your secondary line (e.g. CRI). The advantage of the needle-free ports is that there is no need to remove any fittings, as the lines can attach and detach as you wish. The ports automatically seal when you remove the male luer fitting (tip).
Also note that because each arm of the twin extension set also has a slide clamp, it is possible to clamp off that line and prevent back flow from your main IV line.
Administration further from patient
In other situations, it can be desirable to piggy-back a little further from the patient. For example, your patient is a larger dog, or its temperament means you’d prefer to not open the cage every time you make changes to your IV set-up.
In this situation, you may find GVP’s XL Administration Set useful.
This set is similar to our standard 20 drop/ml and 60ml/drop giving sets, but
- Is 1m longer, with a total length of 3.2 metres.
- Has a needle-free Y-Port about 50cm from the patient end
You can easily attach and detach a second IV line from the Y-Port. So, this allows attachment of a syringe pump, or secondary fluid line. Similarly, you can use this port to flush the line/cannula with saline, or to administer a bolus medication via syringe.
Finally, remember that as with all injection ports, good aseptic practice mandates swabbing the port with alcohol prior to reattachment of IV lines or syringes.
For more information on GVP’s range of IV administration sets and accessories, click here. Or drop us an email with any questions.