The hospital left a piece of the IV tubing in DH's hand

[hisno1girl]

He's been complaining of pain in his hand since he got home. Yesterday he kept saying his hand felt "funny" but couldn't tell me why. This morning he made me touch the top of his hand where the IV was and I can see/feel something underneath the skin. It feels like a hard plastic tube. I thought it was just his vein (he has bulgy veins) but nope, I can feel it rolling around under the skin.

He hasan appointment with the doctor tomorrow. I think they will just cut his hand open, pull it out and put a band aid on it. He thinks he will need surgery because it's in the vein. WDYT? Will it/should it just be a simple procedure?

He is completely freaked out. I don't know if I should panic or not. I don't want to. I'm frigging sick of medical issues!!

[fuckyourcouch]

i'm confused how a piece of tubing would have gotten under his skin?

[hbear]

As a nurse, I find it VERY hard to believe there is a piece of IV left in his vein. I have NEVER seen that happen, and as the IV is removed, I think it would be obvious if part of the tubing was not attached. Could it be his vein sclerosed from having the IV in? So the vein itself has gotten hard?

[LeggsBenedict]

to actually answer your question, I don't think it will be a big deal to have it removed? I have no idea. 

[LeggsBenedict]

Apr 2, 2013 12:34:46 GMT -5 fuckyourcouch said:

i'm confused how a piece of tubing would have gotten under his skin?

also this. I forgot to mention this in all my horror.

[muffin0]

Oh man I hope it's an easy fix.

When my dad had his lung surgery they ended up hitting an artery (my dad has really weird anatomy basically his lung was upside down or something)

So they had to open him up extremely quickly. Before they closed him all the way up they had to do an xray because in opening him up so quickly they didn't have an accurate count of how many instruments/rags/tools they had on the table and were worried they would close him up and find a clamp or something.

The dr was all "Don't worry we xray'd him and there were no instruments inside." My mom and I just looked at each other and were all "we wouldn't have even thought about that so thanks?"

[fuckyourcouch]

Apr 2, 2013 12:36:20 GMT -5 hbear said:

As a nurse, I find it VERY hard to believe there is a piece of IV left in his vein. I have NEVER seen that happen, and as the IV is removed, I think it would be obvious if part of the tubing was not attached. Could it be his vein sclerosed from having the IV in? So the vein itself has gotten hard?

yeah my h had this happen, it felt like a piece of plastic under his skin for months.  i think this is more likely.

[luckyval]

Holy hell and OWIE!

[hisno1girl]

Apr 2, 2013 12:36:20 GMT -5 hbear said:

As a nurse, I find it VERY hard to believe there is a piece of IV left in his vein. I have NEVER seen that happen, and as the IV is removed, I think it would be obvious if part of the tubing was not attached. Could it be his vein sclerosed from having the IV in? So the vein itself has gotten hard?

When he was in the hospital he hit his IV hand really hard and there was blood in the tubing sticking out of his hand. The nurse said that it was normal and his hand got a little puffy and turned black and blue.

It really feels like something is underneath his skin. He only had the IV in for three days. Is that enoight time for the vein to develop the problem you mention?

BTW - This isn't official yet, that's why he's going to the doctor but DH is convinced it's part of the IV.

Can I tell him he's overreacting?? He tends to be a little dramatic when it comes to anything medical.

[TrudyCampbell]

Apr 2, 2013 12:36:20 GMT -5 hbear said:

As a nurse, I find it VERY hard to believe there is a piece of IV left in his vein. I have NEVER seen that happen, and as the IV is removed, I think it would be obvious if part of the tubing was not attached. Could it be his vein sclerosed from having the IV in? So the vein itself has gotten hard?

I agree with this. I am (was) also a nurse and I can't imagine this happening. If so, that is nuts!

[karmasabiotch]

I have hard scar tissue that can be pushed around. It hurts. Any chance it could be that?

I would imagine there could be an easy lapriscopic fix if there really has been something left behind. It's highly unlikely but it does happen.

[katietornado]

Apr 2, 2013 12:40:31 GMT -5 fuckyourcouch said:

Apr 2, 2013 12:36:20 GMT -5 hbear said:

As a nurse, I find it VERY hard to believe there is a piece of IV left in his vein. I have NEVER seen that happen, and as the IV is removed, I think it would be obvious if part of the tubing was not attached. Could it be his vein sclerosed from having the IV in? So the vein itself has gotten hard?

yeah my h had this happen, it felt like a piece of plastic under his skin for months.  i think this is more likely.

This happened to me when I was 16.  My veins felt hard for a couple of months afterward.

[hbear]

Apr 2, 2013 12:55:04 GMT -5 hisno1girl said:

Apr 2, 2013 12:36:20 GMT -5 hbear said:

As a nurse, I find it VERY hard to believe there is a piece of IV left in his vein. I have NEVER seen that happen, and as the IV is removed, I think it would be obvious if part of the tubing was not attached. Could it be his vein sclerosed from having the IV in? So the vein itself has gotten hard?

When he was in the hospital he hit his IV hand really hard and there was blood in the tubing sticking out of his hand. The nurse said that it was normal and his hand got a little puffy and turned black and blue.

It really feels like something is underneath his skin. He only had the IV in for three days. Is that enoight time for the vein to develop the problem you mention?

BTW - This isn't official yet, that's why he's going to the doctor but DH is convinced it's part of the IV.

Can I tell him he's overreacting?? He tends to be a little dramatic when it comes to anything medical.

Basically, the IV infiltrated, so the fluid started leaking outside his vein causing the puffiness and bruising. Hopefully they removed the IV at that time. As the vein healed, it may have grown a little scar tissue. And actually, IV's in the hand should be changed out every 3 days anyway, so yeah, it can happen in just 3 days.

My bet is he's overreacting,  but he probably won't be satisfied until his own doc tells him so.

[feistypants]

If the nurse was paying attention, she should've noticed if the catheter (the plastic straw part) was still intact when she pulled out his IV. That's actually part of the charting of IV removal. Hopefully you're just feeling irritated, hardened veins.

[MixedBerryJam]

Apr 2, 2013 12:36:20 GMT -5 hbear said:

As a nurse, I find it VERY hard to believe there is a piece of IV left in his vein. I have NEVER seen that happen, and as the IV is removed, I think it would be obvious if part of the tubing was not attached. Could it be his vein sclerosed from having the IV in? So the vein itself has gotten hard?

I am in this camp, too. I have a vein (or artery ... Dunno) in my arm that they won't wven try to take blood from anymore because, while it's big and juicy, it rolls around all over when they try to stick it. I know now always to use my good arm.