blown vein - how did you know?

CamJack mom

how do you know if you've blown a vein? got my new iv today and i have a lot of pain in the hand she put it in, but no swelling. how do i know if the line is wrong or the vein is blown?

robynlynn83

It shouldn't burn or really hurt. 

I blew a good ten veins with my IVs and each time they swelled, burned, rolled, then the fluid stopped going in.

kissthenkill

I've had a couple blown veins from a blood draw and another from an IV. Both times they swelled up into a little bubble around the needle. The IV also got a blue color around it before it was removed. Both ended up in huge bruises and felt very tender. It hurt to bend my arm a certain way for a week after that horrible IV.

CamJack mom

no swelling around the site and fluids are still going in so i guess i'm just a little tender for now.

kanga47s

With a blown vein, you would expect to see swelling and redness at the site.  One exeption is an IV in your antecub or elbow area.  It takes a lot of fluid buildup until you can see the swelling there.  Some medications are quite hard of the vein and can burn or cause tenderness.  You can try a warm blanket on the site.  Good luck!
I'm a nurse so I've seen lots of bad IV sites.  If there is no swelling and the fluid is running, that's a good sign.

scprincessrn

kanga47s:

With a blown vein, you would expect to see swelling and redness at the site.  One exeption is an IV in your antecub or elbow area.  It takes a lot of fluid buildup until you can see the swelling there.  Some medications are quite hard of the vein and can burn or cause tenderness.  You can try a warm blanket on the site.  Good luck!
I'm a nurse so I've seen lots of bad IV sites.  If there is no swelling and the fluid is running, that's a good sign.

This.  And I've had a lot of patients complain that the hand hurts more than other places.  If it's closer to the wrist, then the movement of the wrist can cause some discomfort. Hope it gets better.

GoldenPeaches

I had one on the inside of my elbow (paramedic put the IV in as we were gong over the railroad tracks!!). The blood pooled up underneath the skin and I had a nasty bruise for awhile that was about the size of a golf ball. It was pretty tender for a week or so. Eventually the bruise turned green (ew!) and went away.

The woman was able to tell right away she had went all the way through, and that's how I knew she had. 

annnd by reading the nurses responses above I think this isn't what you are talking about. Sorry  

CamJack mom

GoldenPeaches:

I had one on the inside of my elbow (paramedic put the IV in as we were gong over the railroad tracks!!). The blood pooled up underneath the skin and I had a nasty bruise for awhile that was about the size of a golf ball. It was pretty tender for a week or so. Eventually the bruise turned green (ew!) and went away.

The woman was able to tell right away she had went all the way through, and that's how I knew she had. 

annnd by reading the nurses responses above I think this isn't what you are talking about. Sorry  

Don't be sorry, a blown vein would be a bad thing. It is feeling much better now. I think it was taped down wrong. I retaped it because it was pulling away and now my hand is fine.