IV treatment at home

You or your child will be going home from the hospital soon. Your health care provider has prescribed medicines or other treatments that you or your child need to take at home.

IV Treatment at Home

IV (intravenous) means giving medicines or fluids through a needle or tube (catheter) that goes into a vein. The tube or catheter may be one of the following:

• Central venous catheter

  Central venous catheter

  You have a central venous catheter. This is a tube that goes into a vein in your chest or neck and ends at your heart. It helps carry nutrients or ...

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• Central venous catheter - port

  Central venous catheter - port

  A central venous catheter is a thin tube that goes into a vein in your arm or chest and ends at the right side of your heart (right atrium). If the c...

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• Peripherally inserted central catheter

  Peripherally inserted central catheter

  You have a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC). This is a tube that goes into a vein in your arm. It helps carry nutrients or medicine in...

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• Normal IV (one inserted into a vein just below your skin)

Home IV treatment is a way for you or your child to receive IV medicine without being in the hospital or going to a clinic.

Why You Need IV Medicines at Home?

You may need high doses of antibiotics or antibiotics that you cannot take by mouth.

• You may have started IV antibiotics in the hospital that you need to keep getting for a while after you leave the hospital.
• For example, infections in the lungs, bones, brain, or other parts of the body may be treated this way.

Other IV treatments you may receive after you leave the hospital include:

• Treatment for hormone deficiencies
• Medicines for severe nausea that cancer chemotherapy or pregnancy may cause
• Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) for pain (this is IV medicine that people give themselves according to dose guidelines from their provider)
• Chemotherapy to treat cancer

You or your child may need total parenteral nutrition (TPN) after a hospital stay. TPN is a nutrition formula that is given through a vein.

You or your child may also need extra fluids through an IV.

Receiving Intravenous Treatments at Home

Often, home health care nurses will come to your home to give you the medicine. Sometimes, a family member, a friend, or you yourself can give the IV medicine.

The nurse will check to make sure the IV is working well and there are no signs of infection. Then the nurse will give the medicine or other fluid. It will be given in one of the following ways:

• A fast bolus, which means the medicine is given quickly, all at once.
• A slow infusion, which means the medicine is given slowly over a long period.

After you receive your medicine, the nurse will wait to see if you have any bad reactions. If you are fine, the nurse will leave your home.

Used needles need to be disposed of in a needle (sharps) container. Used IV tubing, bags, gloves, and other disposable supplies can go in a plastic bag and be put in the trash.

Problems to Watch For

Watch for these problems:

• A hole in the skin where the IV is. Medicine or fluid can go into the tissue around the vein. This could harm the skin or tissue.
• Swelling of the vein. This can lead to a blood clot (called thrombophlebitis).

  Thrombophlebitis

  Thrombophlebitis is swelling (inflammation) of a vein. A blood clot (thrombus) in the vein is the most common cause of this swelling.

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These rare problems may cause breathing or heart problems:

• A bubble of air gets into the vein and travels to the heart or lungs (called an air embolism).
• An allergic or other serious reaction to the medicine.

Most times, home health care nurses are available 24 hours a day. If there is a problem with the IV, you can call your home health care agency for help.

If the IV comes out of the vein:

• First, put pressure over the opening where the IV was until the bleeding stops.
• Then call the home health care agency or your provider right away.

When to Call Your Health Care Provider

Contact your provider if you or your child has any signs of infection, such as:

• Redness, swelling, or bruising at the site where the needle enters the vein
• Pain
• Bleeding
• Fever of 100.5°F (38°C) or higher

Call 911 or the local emergency number right away if you have:

• Any breathing problems
• A fast heart rate
• Dizziness
• Chest pain