Newbie, advice on IV sets please!

[Skip94]

Hi all
I've been fascinated by pictures of saline inflation for years and am currently gearing up to try my first. I've done hours of research and reading, and think I am well prepared, bar one thing.
I am struggling to pick an IV set. A few guides I've read mention the importance of a high flow rate on the IV line. Understandable, I don't wantba 500ml fill taking 3-4 hours!
But I am struggling to find any info, on multiple sites, about the flow rates of the IV lines they sell.
I am looking to source most stuff from Praxisdienst in Germany, as the saline itself is impossible to buy without a prescription here in the UK.
Most of the IV sets they sell though have no info about flow rate, and the one or two that do, are 20 drops/ml. From what I've read, this is very slow and I'd be better with 10 drops/ml.
Does anyone have any advice on sourcing an IV line, or even better, a recommendation for a particular one, that will be available for me to buy in the UK.
There are a few on ebay and Amazon here, but again, absolutely no information on them.
Cheers
Skip

[tout69]

I'm in exactly the same position and would really like this information as well

[MasonBall]

Yup, having a needle in your balls for any amount of time sucks, I'm trying to have this done as quickly as possible. Everything I read before buying my kit said 1L 1 hour so I'm feeling bamboozled. If I had known this was going to take 4 hours and hurt like hell the whole time I wouldn't have done it. My kit is 15 drops per ml and I'm getting about 2ml/min on gravity or 10ml/min with a pressure bag and even then I'm punching my mattress and biting down on a pencil because it hurts so much. I'm running out of admin kits and when I get new ones I'm getting high flow + wider gauge needles/possibly catheters if it would be more comfortable/faster

[Curious271]

I'd try to experiment with different locations .. I typically put in in the center of the sac towards the top. making sure to be in the sac only. Careful to avoid hitting in "meat" . Using this method I've flowed 3L in about a hour via gravity going slow for gradually expansion. I'll have to keep looking for the right location. For pain is concern there should be little to no pain as the needle is going thru the sac skin only dumping into an open cavity.
Sealing is hit or miss. I've had it were I pulled the needle out and it sealed on its own, I've had it weep all night long and had it where I've had to use super glue. Pinching the site and a bandaid is typical.

[Squirrel]

Lower ml/drip means faster possible infusion. 60 drops/ml, don't bother. 20 drops/ml, OK. 10-15 drops/ml, best.

Start doing some timing math during an infusion to know how long it's going to take. It's like measuring your heartbeat. Measure drops over 15 seconds, multiply by 4 for the per minute rate. Per minute rate divided by bag size in ml is your estimated time to empty it.

For 1 Liter:
- 15 drops/ml = 15,000 drops to clear the bag.
- 1 drop/second would require 4.1 hours
- 3 drops/second would take 83 minutes
- 4 drops/second is 62 minutes

Head pressure (height of bag over injection point) plays a big part in the infusion rate. The other thing you can control is needle placement. If your bag is high and your drip rate is under 2.5/sec, adjust the needle.

I prefer the bag to be at least 5' above the injection point. 6'+ is best. 72" drip lines work but can be annoying to be cautious around. 100" or 120" makes it easier to move around with much less risk of the needle getting pulled out.

Big balls and math are fun.

[MasonBall]

Measure drops over 15 seconds, multiply by 4 for the per minute rate. Per minute rate divided by bag size in ml is your estimated time to empty it.

For 1 Liter:
- 15 drops/ml = 15,000 drops to clear the bag.
- 1 drop/second would require 4.1 hours
- 3 drops/second would take 83 minutes
- 4 drops/second is 62 minutes

Big balls and math are fun.

I count 15 drops while timing it to see how long it takes to dispense 1ml, then divide it by however many millimetres are left in the bag to get timev in seconds, then divide that by 60 to get minutes

1sec/ml×1000÷60=16
2=32
4=64

360ml left at 5 seconds?

5x360÷60=30 mins left

I wish there was something that would clip to the drip reservoir and automatically count with lasers or something because counting to 15 in 4 seconds is actually pretty hard to do

[pipefitterdom]

The administration set doesn’t control the speed of your infusion. The gauge of the needle does. When an infusion is going well it’s not a drip it’s a pour! So I don’t even consider drip rate on an administration set. Also you can speed things up with a pressure cuff. I’ve been using the same cuff for several years now so they seem to be very durable for a glorified balloon.
Drive the needle straight in to get as deep as possible while avoiding the jewels. You can get away with a butterfly because it has about a foot of much smaller diameter tubing between the needle and the administration set, so it doesn’t tug and pull on the needle as much as connecting directly into the admin set.

As we reach larger sizes our skin thickens and now I need a 1” catheter to reach the internal cavern. When the infusion is released between the layers of membrane in the bag it forms what we tend to describe as a bubble. They are frustrating because the flow is reduced significantly. I hypothesize that the restriction of equalizing the internal pressure of the bubble to the cavernous internal bag is what slows down the flow and why the fluid eventually equalizes internally after several hours and faster with some judicious manhandling.
Judiciously, while you aren’t going to “pop” your bag, you can easily make it leak through the skin. So try to avoid over infusing and remember to keep it warm so that it stays as loose as possible. Stay tied off as much as possible while taking breaks from the strap while not seated or sleeping.
If your infusion site is difficult to seal, you may want to use less next time since anything you can’t contain in your bag will just overflow into your body.
Above all be as sanitary as possible.

[mRuss]

I've had some infusions that go in VERY quickly, where you can't see the individual drops. if I could have that happen every time I would, but even after many years things are still a little different each time. Patience is key.

Usually a fast infusion is what you want. If you're doing a saline infusion and you want to push your limits, slowing the drip rate once you are reaching your limit allows your skin a bit of time to adjust and stretch, which can be a bit more comfortable. If you push past your limit you'll know because you will leak/sweat, which is annoying It helps to have some willpower (note: i have relatively little of this)

[Squirrel]

I wish there was something that would clip to the drip reservoir and automatically count with lasers or something because counting to 15 in 4 seconds is actually pretty hard to do

There is! It can control the flow rate too. It's not cheap though.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/323042624216?m ... media=COPY