Blood draws from a PICC/midline is a sample of the procedure.

I am having trouble drawing blood from a midline.When I start to pull my waste, I don't get a return.I have had this happen before.Is this the case for anyone else?I don't know if I'm doing something wrong.What tips do you have for the trade?Will the questions continue?

It has been certified since 89.Has experience for 30 years.

We weren't allowed to use PICCs for blood draws at the time.

Specializes in Cardiothoracic Transplant Telemetry.

Midline blood draws are not allowed at my institution, but we are able to draw from regular PICC's.My understanding is that midline PICC's were not able to be threaded all the way to the subclavian as is preferred, and so are not acceptable for blood draws.I hope this helps.

If you can't get a blood return, it may be positioned against a side of the SVC or there is a fibrin sheath that grew over it.It is likely that tpa is needed.Good luck!

Has 25 years of experience.

It is not advisable to get routine blood draws from a catheter.The upper deltoid or axillary vein is where the tip of a midline lies.The lower segement of the superior vena cava is the only acceptable tip location for a picc line.

To answer your question, you should not get blood specimins from a midline.You shouldn't get blood from smaller piccs as well.

Specializes in Med-Surg.35 years of experience.

I am not sure if I would go with positive placement just because you can flush it.I've seen a lot of peripheral IV's that are easy to flush.I agree that it's possible to have the sheath.If I can't get a blood return, I have used different arm positions.

Bob is correct that blood should only be withdrawn from lines larger than 5 feet.We flush with 10cc and then take 7cc for waste.You should change the cap after your blood draws as blood can clot the caps.If the pt has poor access, try to get at least one peripherally and one from the PICC line.At the facility, we have a lot of problems with the lines that aren't giving good blood return, it could be from the line resting against the vein wall or people not taking proper care of it.If a pt had a PICC that needed to be accessed more than twice in 24 hours, we had to have NSS running at all times.Hope that helps!Good luck!

Specializes in utilization management.

We can't draw blood from midlines.The midline is made of softer plastic and it will collapse under the pressure of a draw.

They don't work well for me where I work.Sometimes you can get it done by moving the line or the patient's position.You just have to poke the poor patient for blood if the line doesn't flush.

The red port on the picc line is the blood draw line.After lab work and flushing is complete, the cap needs to be changed to that line.I use smaller tubes to hold the collection holder.If the patient has had any problems with their picc line, I stick with venipunctures, not worth the risk.

A midline is the same catheter as a picc and if unable to thread through, the cath is clipped.Blood cultures should always be drawn from a new access site if appropriate waste is not thrown away.Please let me know if you know why some people don't draw from a picc.Thank you all, Zachary.

The placement and stability of a midline is what it is.If you ever pulled one, it was only for short term use, great for a run of antibiotics at home.Not strong enough to draw blood.We don't draw blood from peripheral iv's.

The only time you can get blood from a peripheral site is after you flush with NSS.A midline is a peripheral steriod.We can use PICCs for draws because they end in the SVC.

Specializes in Inpatient Acute Rehab.

I work in an ER and often draw from peripheral sites for lab work, such as cardiac markers, cardiac enzymes, and hourly surveys for DKA.If you are located in the AC, you can draw from the peripheral sites many times a day.I discard the waste and never draw from a fluid site or a gtt site above med administration.Thank you all, Zachary.