My two year old was in the hospital for dehydration and receiving fluids through an IV in her hand. Somehow the IV came out of its place and the fluid went into my daughter's hand, fingers, and arm. She woke up crying and kept saying her hand hurt. It was the middle of the night so I didn't see what was wrong right away. By the time I did her one finger was purple and the rest of her hand couldn't have gotten any bigger. It has been almost 24 hours since this happened and although the swelling has greatly diminished, her hand is still puffy. Has anyone had this happen and know how long before it goes back to normal? She used her hand fine today. It just had me so worried.
Just as an FYI...the nurses were doing checks every two hours and came in after they heard her flipping out. I asked the one that came in to please get her some milk and pain medicine since I thought that maybe it'd help calm her down. She went to get the stuff for me before she checked her. My daughter had been through a lot this weekend with how sick she was and we were trying to calm her down before messing with her again. Needless to say, she was extremely upset when she had to be held down again to get the IV out. Thankfully the doctor didn't make them reinsert another IV.
Thank you for the replies. Her hand is looking almost normal now. I was just surprised how long it took for the swelling to go down especially since she has been so dehydrated. She is home and feeling almost back to normal. She is still not drinking like she usually does, but we are encouraging her to drink as much as we can. Hopefully she doesn't ever end up in the hospital again, but if she does I will be watching that IV.
Poor little thing!! I had that happen multiple times with my IV when I had my first baby. It wasn't fun, but it went away entirely in a couple of days. She will be fine! Sorry you are having to deal with this.
Sounds like phlebitis to me. If you can, take her to urgent care, just to double check. I have a chronic health condition and get IVs regularly. When it starts to hurt, I insist that it be changed. As a result, I've avoided phlebitis for the past 6 months.
This happened to me after I gave birth. But they didn't discover it until a few hours later and my whole body had puffed up like a balloon. It does take some time for the IV solution to dissipate. Don't worry, she will be back to normal soon. I hope your little girl feels better real soon.
Hi, M..
Yes, any time someone is in the hospital, you have to be vigilant.
Times have changed in nursing care in hospitals.
My daughter was receiving I.V. therapy. I looked at her hand. There was a little puffiness at the i.v. site. I called the nurse. She looked at it and blew me off. I waited a little while and called her back to check. She took the bottle down and no blood returned in the tubing. She took out the i.v. and left it out.
Now a days, you really have to monitor everything going on with your love one.
It is so sad to see that the caring and professionalism has gone away from the nursing profession. (Watch out for Doctors too!)
D.
Sounds like an infiltrated IV. the IV catheter was not in the vein and the IV fluids leaked under her skin. The treatment for this very common problem is warm compresses and elevation of the extremity affected.
I am concerned if her fingers are still purple - if so make sure it is looked at by a medical professional.
The IV infiltrated the tissue around the IV entry place. This is how cats get IV's. They put the needle end under the first layer of the skin and they turn it on. The fluids slowly absorbed the fluids and once they had they are fine.
Ask the doc about this or call the hospital, the phlebotomist is working tonight. They have to have one on at all times. If someone goes down they'll need that person to do the IV.
My poor sister had o many IVs blow, it was awful but she always came through it ok. So sorry your baby girl is going through this, hope she is well and home ASAP!
My mother is currently hospitalized and one of her hands is quite swollen. The Ocupational Therapist that came to see her suggested that we massage her hand trying to push toward her shoulder to help her body get rid of the extra fluid.
M
It'll be back to normal in a couple days, as long as her coloring has gone back to normal it is nothing to be concerned about if it was just regular IV fluids. It just takes awhile for the body to absorb the fluids. Depending on how much was being infused per hour, the arm can swell up quite quickly once the IV goes bad. I hope your little one is better and can go home soon!
