A few months ago, my brother drove me to the hospital for what turned out to be severe hypotension. As soon as the intake nurse saw my readings, I was immediately sent to a triage room, where two different nurses tried to insert an IV in both arms, because the pressure in one arm was significantly different from the other. I wrote “tried to insert” because even after multiple attempts, the nurse couldn’t insert the IV in my left arm.
One of the aspects of this that was new to me (I’m not a stranger to ERs) was that the disinfectant they used pre-IV came in something that had a cap on it that needed to be snapped open then the fluid within applied to the skin. I think it also included a small sponge to soak up excess fluid.
After a day or so as an inpatient, with more IV insertions – primarily in my left arm – for which they used the same disinfectant, the insertion point began turning bright red accompanied by increasingly severe pain. The doctors and nurses took photos of the area it was so extremely severe.
Obviously, I am allergic to this stuff with a snap cap. My problem is, I have no idea what it’s called, and I need to add it to my list of allergies for a doctor visit tomorrow.
Does anyone know what it’s called, please? I need to know before tomorrow (Fri, Oct 29).
Thanks!