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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Why is an intravenous bottle placed at a height h above the arm of a patient?


Answer:
that would be a gravity drip, if you're using a pump it is above the pump so air does not enter your bloodstream
It would suck blood back instead of fluid in.
So that gravity will ensure the fluid will flow into the patient.
The gravity (level difference) helps the liquid go into the vein. If you keep it at the same level as the hand, the blood comes into the bottle because the heart keeps pumping the blood.
It is placed above so that gravity will caused the fluid to drip down into the the vein of the patient in a consistent manner.
Actually, it needs to be kept at a level above the heart, or blood will back into the tube, clot, and seriously screw things up. The venous pressure at the level of the heart is approximately 0-4 mm Hg. So if the IV bottle (or bag) is below that, the pressure in the vein will be higher than the pressure in the bottle and nothing will flow.

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