A couple months ago, I went in for one of those really awesome tests, a colonoscopy. You get sedated and probed for about an hour, and then you wake up and go home. What I don’t understand is why did they give me an IV saline drip during that short period of time? Is there a risk of me getting dehydrated? Did they do it to keep my blood pressure up?
Not a Doctor, nor do I play one on TV, but when I had my Colonoscopy a few years back, the IV was used to administer Versid (not sure of spelling here), and also provides an in-place line in case additional medications are needed.
Oh, indeed they use the IV to deliver the anesthesia as well as other stuff, but there was definitely a saline drip in there as well. At one point I asked the anseth…the drug guy why my arm was cold, he said it was because they were pushing saline in the IV.
The IV is, as GaryM said, to give sedative meds, as well as to have access, in case something goes wrong.
Your doctor (should have) told you the risks involved with the procedure.
One is bowel perforation, which is a medical emergency.
All right, I don’t want to appear REALLY dense, but are you saying that they put an IV in there to be able to do other things, and if they have an IV, they have to have something going in, so they choose something neutral, like saline? That makes sense, and I wasn’t thinking of it that way.
IANA doctor or nurse, but I would think also, in addition to the other reasons given that being fully hydrated helps flush the Versed (sp?) out of the system faster.
Just a WAG.
The <ahem> cleanout process you go through tends to leave you a bit on the dehydrated side as well. The saline IV gives you some hydration, as well as providing an in-pace access route if they need to push meds into you.
The Chao Goes Mu, no benzodiazepines (the class of drugs usually used for procedures like this) are cleared through the liver. IV fluid doesn’t affect liver clearance.
crazyjoe, If he said he was pushing the saline, your blood pressure may have dipped a bit. They use NS, (Normal Saline) because it’s a blood expander, unlike D5W (5% Dextrose in water) which is used to just give meds and/or keep an IV open. Pushing NS will bring blood pressure up quickly.
It isn’t unusual for BP to dip during a colonoscopy, because of mild dehydration and sedation.
versed is a great drug, and not expecially known for dropping your blood pressure, like say morphine or propofol are, but it might. If you had an allergic or hypersensitivity reaction, or if you had abnormal bleeding a quick 500ml of isotonic fluids is just the ticket, it also helps to control the drug delivery rate. Lastly it just makes us feel good, when I’m doing a conscious sedation in the ER I like to have all my talismans ready, bag valve mask, suction, monitor, intubation gear, reversal agents, it wards off evil spirits,
Larry
Exactly. Several months ago I had a colonoscopy scheduled. I went through the prep. procedures as prescribed. When I got up in the morning I felt a bit strange, by the time I got to the waiting room I was getting a dizziness. I told the nurse, when she came to get me and she had me lie down and checked my BP. It was so low that she called the doctor in and started the NS. They seemed quite concerned, but within a few minutes I started feeling better and my BP came up, so they went ahead w/ the procedure. They attributed it to dehydration due to the prep. and, possibly my use of BP meds.
This has basically been answered. An intravenous is put in your arm to give you medicine and fluid – including the anesthetic and additional medicines in case there are complications. A couple niggling other points:
Saline is a neutral fluid that can keep up your blood pressure if it is mildly depressed, and can be “mixed” with most other medicines.
Saline is often given “to keep the vein open”. Medicines can be given more easily if the vein is patent, and this is more likely if even a low volume of fluid is given continuously. The IV can be “locked” (put in without saline) – this can be a minor nuisance for the doctor, though – since the vein is more likely to collapse and since any medicine given needs to be flushed if there is no saline drip.
Since you cannot eat or drink before most surgeries, saline is also given to stave off dehydration. Saline can be used to compensate for minor blood and fluid loss during surgery as well. Major blood loss requires blood; other medicines are used if the blood pressure is very low – neither of these interventions are common after routine colonoscopy.