Inquiring about policies regarding drug levels via double lumen central venous access.
 It is our unwritten policy to infuse meds such as Tacro, Cyclosporine, Tobra through the white port and draw drug levels via the red port. On occasion the med is accidently infused via the red port resulting in falsely high drug levels thus requiring a perpheral blood draw.
my questions:
Do these meds coat the interlumen of the catheter or is the med absorbed into the catheter material?
Is there flush method to decrease the amount of med in the line? or a volume of flush?
Any additional cues at the bedside that would alert the nurse to only infuse the med through the designated port?
There is no evidence that any drug adheres or coats the intraluminal catheter surface. Drugs could be adherent to the biofilm present in all catheters but there is very little research on this. There is some old evidence that silicone can change color due to some antineoplastic drugs but it is very limited.
No flush volume or method has been recommended to decrease the amount of medications that could be left in the lumen.
Sorry but there is not much on your questions. lynn
Lynn Hadaway, M.Ed., RN, NPD-BC, CRNI
Lynn Hadaway Associates, Inc.
PO Box 10
Milner, GA 30257
Website http://www.hadawayassociates.com
Office Phone 770-358-7861