Why don’t hospitals give patients IV fluids any more (even if the patient is dehydrated)?
There is a common belief from patients that if one comes to hospital he/she must get intravenous fluids otherwise hospital is not taking care of them well. Or as soon as intravenous fluid is over, one is absolutely fine and can go home.We need to understand unnecessary IV fluids have more harm then benefits. It may cause fluid overload led to cardiac failure or it will put more pressure on your kidneys to filter it out or it will cause electrolytes imbalance or it will increase or decrease glucose levels in the blood.Intravenous fluid administration should be done only when it is indicated. When Patient is unable to take orally or when Patient is in shock or when oral intake is not advised.Talking about dehydration, all dehydration’s doesn’t require intravenous fluid. Dehydration has been divided into three types a) No dehydration b) some dehydration c) Severe dehydration. Only it’s severe dehydration which requires intravenous fluids. More details you can consult specialist doctors for free at Docscall- an android app. DocsCall - Doctor Consultation App - Apps on Google PlayMy only request is let doctors do there job and don’t put pressure over them to start unnecessary intravenous fluids.
How does a cat with diabetes get IV fluid in lungs?
I had a perfectly happy and, as far as I knew, healthy 5 yr. old cat until yesterday. I woke up and found him acting strange so I took him to the vet. They did some blood tests and found that he had diabetes and it was making him sick because he had keytones in his blood. They gave him fluids through an IV in his first visit that day (before they found out about the diabetes) and when I returned with him, they gave him insulin and recommended I watch him all night (since I could not afford to keep him overnight). Before I left the vet I asked about his breathing which seemed different and he had his tongue out and mouth open. The vet said it could just have been stress. I took him home and about 2 hours later his breathing was worse and he urinated on himself so I took him back. The vet said it looked like the IV fluid got into his lungs and he was having a hard time hearing his heart. How does this happen? How does diabetes cause the IV fluid to get in his lungs?
Is anasarca a medical diagnosis?
Anasarca is the medical term referred to a person who experiences generalized edema. This happens because there is an excess fluid build-up in the tissues. Anasarca is different from slight swelling or edema that occurs mostly in the feet. In anasarca, the person looks like bloating and when the person is pinched, the skin will not go back to its normal condition right away.Anasarca is not a disease itself but it is a symptom of an underlying condition like malnutrition or sometimes protein deficiency; administration of exogenous intravenous fluid; administration of a chemotherapeutic drug like doxetaxel. But most of all, anasarca is very common in patients with heart failure and kidney failure.Cardiac problems and renal failure is one of the common diseases that people experience worldwide. edema and even anasarca occurs in patients with kidney failure because there is a loss or protein in the urine and the kidney cannot function well thus water and other toxins will be retained in the body.On the other hand, for patients with heart failure, there is a poor cardiac function so there is lesser blood volume that is pumped by the heart to be delivered in the other parts of the body. As a result, the kidney will then sense that there is a decreased blood volume in the body. To compensate for that problem, the kidney will retain salt and water thus, edema happens.Salt intake also affects the body thus anasarca occurs. In a normal person, the salt is well-regulated and it is excreted in the body through urine. So when the patient has heart failure or kidney failure, the amount of salt should be limited to avoid anasarca.There is also a condition called idiopathic edema. The cause is unknown but it is linked with pre-menopausal women and those who took diuretics for a long time. Although diuretics can greatly decrease edema through urination, it can also cause problem through rebound phenomenon. It is believed that there are leaks in the capillaries in idiopathic edema. then the fluid passes to the interstitial space and the kidney will then retain salt and water because it senses that there is a decreased blood volume.Anasarca happens because there is an underlying problem. for patients with kidney failure, they will also experience:NauseaAnemiaVomitingLoss of appetiteCrampsNo urine outputSwelling of the feet and ankleBody weaknessShortness of breath
Which IV fluid should be used for a patient with dehydration?
Dehydration caused by what? Vomiting? Heat exposure? Diabetic ketoacidosis? The answer depends on the cause of the dehydration. I'm a Lactated Ringer's girl, myself, for most situations. Many times, 0.9% sodium chloride (normal saline) is equivalent to RL.
Under what conditions does a patient need glucose drips?
First of all….what exactly is a “DRIP OF GLUCOSE”'Drip of Glucose' can be referred either to Intravenous infusion of Dextrose (which is a biologically active form of Glucose) or to any Intravenous Fluid. As glucose is the necessary substance to provide energy, it should be given as drips until the person is able to recover from illness completely and eat his food without difficulty.A person must be gjven a glucose drip in case of dehydration and in conditions where the person suffers loss of water and electrolytes.It is also given when a patient is unable to ingest food or water.
What is the IV Fluid Formula?
There are many solutions are are used for IV fluids. The specific one used depends on the situation. Many other compounds can be added to the IV solution as a simple means of administration. For example, antibiotics, pain killers and so on can be added to the IV so the patient receives the drug at a constant rate over a long period of time. Some common IV fluids: Normal saline is 9 grams of sodium chloride (NaCl) dissolved in 1 liter of water. That is isotonic with human blood - in other words, that fluid won't cause the red blood cells to bust because they pull in more water, nor will it cause them to shrink because water is pulled from them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_sali... There is also Ringer's lactate: One litre of lactated Ringer's solution contains: * 130 mEq of sodium ion = 130 mmol/L * 109 mEq of chloride ion = 109 mmol/L * 28 mEq of lactate = 28 mmol/L * 4 mEq of potassium ion = 4 mmol/L * 3 mEq of calcium ion = 1.5 mmol/L 5% dextrose in water (D5W) is another common IV fluid. For more general information, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intravenous...
What is the exact laboratory tests for diagnosis of hyaline membrane disease?
Most cases of hyaline membrane disease can be ameliorated or prevented if mothers who are about to deliver prematurely can be given one of a group of hormones glucocorticoids. This speeds the production of surfactant. For very premature deliveries, a glucocorticoid is given without testing the fetal lung maturity. In pregnancies of greater than 30 weeks, the fetal lung maturity may be tested by sampling the amount of surfactant in the amniotic fluid, obtained by inserting a needle through the mother's abdomen and uterus. The 'maturity level' is expressed as the lecithin-sphingomyelin (or "L/S") ratio. If this ratio is less than 2, the fetal lungs may be surfactant deficient, and a glucocorticoid is given. Oxygen is given with a small amount of continuous positive airway pressure ("CPAP"), and intravenous fluids are administered to stabilize the blood sugar, blood salts, and blood pressure. If the baby's condition worsens, an endotracheal tube (breathing tube) is inserted into the trachea and intermittent breaths are given by a mechanical device. An exogenous preparation of surfactant, either synthetic or extracted from animal lungs, is given through the breathing tube into the lungs. One of the most commonly used surfactants is Survanta, derived from cow lungs, which can decrease the risk of death in hospitalized very-low-birth-weight infants by 30%. Such small premature infants may remain ventilated for months. Chronic lung disease including bronchopulmonary dysplasia are common in severe RDS. The etiology of BPD is problematic and may be due to oxygen, overventilation or underventilation. The mortality rate for babies greater than 27 weeks gestation is less than 10%.
Administering Sub-Q fluids to cat: how long does it take the vet to do it?
I've spent over $1500 in vet bills on 2 pets the last month. I'm so broke, now another cat is sick. I was told this was cheaper than an IV, but will still help her out greatly.
Is it possible for our dog (Shih-tzu) to survive the disease "parvo"?
In our practice we encourage owners to have their dogs hospitalized and placed on iv fluids when we diagnose parvo. Some owners cannot afford this type of treatment so they use subcutaneous (under the skin) fluids, antibiotics, and drugs to help stop the vomiting at home. With very small dogs like yours, hypoglycemia is a big complication of parvo. Glucose can only be given IV or orally (which doesn't do any good when the dog is vomiting). The prognosis is always better for dogs hospitalized and placed on iv fluids than treated at home. The prognosis for your dog depends on many things including the strain of parvo causing the disease because some strains are more severe than others. Also pups that have had 1 or 2 vaccines tend to have milder disease than those with no vaccinations. The next few days will be the hardest. The virus has to run it's course. The antibiotics will not do anything for the virus but they are necessary. Parvo causes the white blood cell count of the pup to decrease dramatically and then they are susceptible to other infections, Fluids are very important because the cause of death in parvo is dehydration. Oral fluids are not effective if the puppy is vomiting they have to be given IV or SubQ. Good luck. BTW the incubation period of parvo is usually 7-10 days so if you have had your pup less than 7 days he was probably infected when you purchased him and you should discuss it with the breeder.
Why do hospitals use 5% dextrose and normal saline as intravenous infusions?
Among other solutions, dextrose (glucose) 5% and normal saline (sodium chloride or common table salt 8.5 grams per 100 ml of distilled water), have the same tonicity or concentration of the rest of the body fluids, taht is, they will do no harm to the rest of the fluids of the body. A higher or lower concentration of such solutions injected into the vein, could cause severe complications ) if we used lets for instance say 2% dextrose or 4% saline), then, water would go into the red cells, bursting them, or in the space between the cells of the brain (causing brain swelling) among many other derangements... On the other hand, if those solutions were more concentrated, they would cause the red cells to shrink and render them useless, can aggravate water loss, dehydrate the patient, cause sodium retention and toxicity, etc---- The reasons are manifold, however the bottomline, is that at the normal concentration, they are absolutely similar in concentration (tonicity) to the plasma, and for that reason, they are called physiological or isotonic solutions....and therefore used with absolutely more frequency.. Concentrations can be varied according wity the diagnosis (for instance, somebody suffering from hyponatremia or loss of sodium) we could use hypertonic saline, which has slightly more sodium than the isotonic one, or a hypotonic (less concentrated ) dextrose, in a diabetic just admitted to the ER, in order to avoid elevating the blood sugar even more.. or more concentrated dextrose like 10% if the patient has a very low blood glucose, or hypoglycemic state (low sugar in blood in diabetics, or accidental injection of excess insulin for instance, among many examples),,,,when they (the patients) are stabilized, we go back to isotonic normal solutions, once the lab reports normal concentration of the substances we are injecting.---