How long can I leave my sterile bag of IV fluids out?

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In this VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, we interview Dr. Julien Guillaumin, DACVECC, DECVECC, on his recent study entitled “Influence of hang time and location on bacterial contamination of intravenous bags in a veterinary emergency and critical care setting.” We all hang bags of fluids around the veterinary clinic and ER/ICU so we can use it as a flush or to dilute drugs. However, should we be doing this? In this study, the authors wanted to evaluate the risk and rate of bacterial contamination of fluid and ports in intravenous bags. Overall, the authors looked at 90 bags of LRS, punctured them daily 3X/day for 10 days. They found bacterial growth in 31.1% of the 198 injection ports overall, and 6.7% of the fluid bags hung in ER were contaminated by Day 7. Listen to find out just how long you should be hanging that bag of fluids, and why hanging it near the veterinary sink isn’t ideal!

References:
1. Guillaumin J, Olp NM, Magnusson KD, et al. Influence of hang time and location on bacterial contamination of intravenous bags in a veterinary emergency and critical care setting. J Vet Emerg Crit Care 2017;27(5):548-554.

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