Table 22:

Managing Dead Volume: Flush Techniques Following Manual IV Push

Flush Technique	Frequency, n (%)a
Syringe Flush
Administered entire contents of the 10 mL prefilled syringe of sodium chloride 0.9% provided	49 (79.0%)
Administered only some of the 10 mL prefilled syringe of sodium chloride 0.9% provided, but sufficient to clear dead volume (i.e., more than 3.5 mL)	7(11.3%)
Infusion Pump Flushb
Administered an IV pump bolus of sodium chloride 0.9% (from the emergency/plain line) after emptying the contents of the medication syringec	4 (6.5%)
Administered an IV pump bolus of sodium chloride 0.9% (from the emergency/plain line) concurrently with the manual IV pushc	2 (3.2%)
Total Flushes	62 (100%)

Abbreviation: IV, intravenous; VTBI, volume to be infused.

^an = 62.

^bAdministering a flush by titrating up the flow rate of the “plain line” may result in an uncontrolled fluid bolus if a VTBI is not programmed (Theme 5: Administering an IV Pump Bolus).

^cIV pump boluses were administered at 90 mL/h, 100 mL/h, 500 mL/h, or 999 mL/h. The pump was titrated back down to 10 mL/h after a period of time (all participants waited long enough to clear the dead volume).

^cIV pump boluses were administered at 100 mL/h or 555 mL/h and titrated back down to 10 mL/h after administering the IV syringe contents.