Drawing a blood sample from the same line used to infuse a drug can cause unexpected problems. This underscores the need to be constantly vigilant when interpreting test results.
Problems that can occur:
(1) blood dilution
(2) hemolysis
(3) drug interaction with test reagents
(4) falsely high drug, glucose or electrolyte levels
(5) discoloration
The problems can be minimized with:
(1) adequate flushing of the line prior to specimen collection
(2) suspending drugs in a solution isotonic with serum (normal saline, etc)
(3) avoiding high drug concentrations
Flushing a line can be highly variable. Some nurses believe that this is unnecessary or underestimate the amount of blood that needs to be "wasted".
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