Page 111 - AACN Essentials of Critical-Care Nursing Pocket Handbook, Second Edition
P. 111
98
Call physician to pull back, rotate, or reposition catheter while observing pressure waveform. Aspirate clot with syringe and flush with saline ( 2-4 mL). Consider line removal. Flush stopcock and transducer; if no transducer. Check syste
Treatment improvement, change stopcock and transducer and flush out air bubbles.
Usually cannot be avoided. to catheter. Use stiff, short tubing.
Prevention Use continuous infusion under pressure. Briefly “fast flush” after blood withdrawal (2-4 mL). Carefully flush catheter after blood withdrawal and reestablish IV drip. Use continuous flush device. Carefully flush transducer and tubing w
Inaccurate Arterial Pressure Measurements
Catheter tip against vessel wall Clot in stopcock or transducer tubing Compliant tubing
Cause Partial occlusion of catheter tip by clot Air bubbles in transducer or connector
Damped pressure tracing
Problem
4.8

