Air entering a vein - possible consequences

Types of disease

Air embolism is divided into types:

Obstetric embolism. Occurs due to incorrect management of obstetric care (uterine perforation, cervical rupture, vaginal rupture).
Traumatic embolism. Develops in an operating or traumatic wound located above the level of the right atrium.
Air embolism due to blood transfusions or therapeutic injections.
Gas embolism occurring due to decompression when pressure increases.

How to avoid?

What can you do to protect yourself from such deadly accidents? In a situation with divers, all rules for rising to the surface of the water should be followed. As for medicine, it is imperative to remove all air bubbles from syringes, droppers and other devices in advance.

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Causes of pathology

Air bubbles end up in the bloodstream for a variety of reasons. If the walls of blood vessels are damaged during inspiration, air is sucked through the injured vein.

The world-famous Russian scientist N.I. Pirogov established the following: death occurs during air embolism not from air emboli entering the vein, but from how quickly they arrive.

The pathology is provoked by the entry of an air bubble into the patient’s bloodstream. Through the right side of the heart, air is directed into the pulmonary artery, embolizing it. Due to mechanical obstacles, blood circulation stops. There is a sudden deterioration in the patient's condition.

During a blood transfusion, a characteristic hissing sound is heard when air enters the vein.

Immediately the patient exhibits nervous agitation, chest pain, and severe shortness of breath. The lips and face turn blue, and there is a sharp drop in blood pressure.

A quick injection of 3 ml of air into a vein is fatal. If small vessels are embolized, blood circulation is quickly restored due to collateral circulation.

What happens if air gets into a vein?

In medical practice, the process of air entering an artery, as well as the subsequent blocking of blood flow to the brain or heart, is called an air embolism. It is precisely this pathological condition that those who were accidentally injected with air into a vein are afraid of. It should be noted that this can indeed be a fatal situation, since a bubble that has entered a vein begins to gradually move along the artery, and then enters the system of the smallest vessels, which subsequently narrow to capillaries. In such a place, the air quickly stops the flow of blood entering any vital area of the body.

Why does pathology develop?

The causes of air embolism are:

Chest injuries. Air bubbles rush along the pressure gradient into the vessel. The blood flow is blocked. The development of an air embolism is dangerous due to bleeding from damaged veins of the chest: the pressure decreases during inspiration, which leads to air being sucked in.
Blood transfusion. The air bubble, passing through the right side of the heart, embolizes the pulmonary artery.
Incorrect intravenous injection technique. Air bubbles along with the drug are introduced into the blood.

Surgical injuries to the chest and head.
Improper obstetric care, abortion. Venous ruptures of the placenta.
Gas embolism in divers. In the case of incomplete exhalation of air when rising from depth, the air in the lungs expands. The lungs become inflated and gas bubbles remain in the bloodstream.
When gas emboli enter the arteries of the brain, blood circulation is blocked, which leads to unconsciousness.

A cube of air into a vein: fatal or not?

If you notice that during the injection small air bubbles entered your bloodstream, then you should not immediately panic - there will definitely not be a fatal outcome in such a situation. Moreover, it makes sense to worry about this only if it was done incorrectly, solely because the air that gets into the muscle tissue or under the skin almost immediately dissolves in the cells, leaving no consequences, except perhaps short-term discomfort in injection site.

As for intravenous injection, it all depends on the size of the bubble itself. If you put just a little air into a vein, it will immediately dissolve in the cells of the body, as is the case with intramuscular or That is why the accidental entry of small bubbles into the body will not affect the patient’s health in any way.

Symptoms of pathology

Signs of pathology due to air embolism:

limbs weaken;
the skin turns pale;
dizzy;
a moving tingling sensation is felt;
rashes appear on the skin;
joint pain is observed;
blueness of the face and limbs;
increased heart rate;
speech disorder;
increased blood pressure;
loss of coherent speech;
the appearance of a cough with bloody discharge.

Rarely recorded symptoms:

loss of consciousness;
manifestation of cramps in the limbs;
paralysis if an air embolus has blocked an artery in the brain;
absorption of air through the lumen of a large vein. Perhaps when a person inhales. At the same time, a sound similar to squelching and gurgling is heard.

Even a single intake of air provokes a dangerous pathology - an air embolism.

Small portions of sucked air, unless they are repeated, are unable to provoke serious consequences. A large volume of air or foamed blood entering a vein causes dangerous symptoms:

attacks of unreasonable fear;
feeling of melancholy;
motor overexcitation.

Fainting, convulsions, and collapse often precede death.

Intramuscular injection: where and how to inject

I read about it. The muscle will absorb excess air if you don’t get carried away. Now I’m just giving my husband a course of injections. And how to play it safe? And if you forget to release the air from the syringe, then you are digging a hole for yourself. Yes, and the correct spelling and pronunciation of anesthesia comes from the word pain and painkillers, not painkillers. Intramuscular injections are considered the most frequently prescribed and easiest to learn, allowing the medicine to enter the bloodstream faster without causing much harm to health.

Diagnosis of the disease

Diagnosis of the disease is carried out by examining the patient. If the patient has not lost consciousness, signs of air embolism can be observed:

labored breathing;
pain in the heart;
dry cough.

Often these symptoms are followed by loss of consciousness.

In an unconscious state, the diagnosis of air embolism is confirmed by the following symptoms:

tachycardia;
hypotension;
swelling of veins.

Diagnosis uses a stethoscope, ECG, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging. Central venous pressure must be measured.

To diagnose sudden death, the following is done: the heart is placed under water and the right side is punctured. If air bubbles come out of the heart cavity, then the cause of death is an air embolism.

How is air removed correctly?

The rules for administering an injection are similar for everyone. That is why every medical worker must completely remove air from the medical device before injection. Let’s look a little further at how exactly this is done.

From a syringe (for intramuscular, intravenous or subcutaneous injection). After drawing the pharmaceutical product, the syringe is raised vertically with a needle, and then the nurse makes light clicks on its body, thereby knocking all the bubbles together (into one air pocket). Then, by gently pressing the piston, the air is squeezed out. With all this, you should definitely release a certain part of the pharmaceutical product, along with which all the remaining bubbles will go away.
From IVs. Before putting the system on a patient, medical staff do the same things as with a syringe before an injection. By the way, if the liquid in the drip runs out before the nurse removes the needle from the patient’s vein, then the air will not enter the human body in any case, because there is simply not enough pressure in the system for this.
From complex medical devices. In such devices, where a sufficient amount of air can accumulate for a fatal ending, there are special filters that automatically completely remove all existing bubbles.

Treatment options for air embolism

The victim is placed on his left side, his head slightly lowered. Transportation in an ambulance is carried out using a stretcher in a prone position. The legs are raised slightly to reduce the chance of air entering the heart and brain.

Air bubble extraction technique

If the integrity of the vein is compromised and air enters the resulting lumen, the doctor closes it with the tip of the left index finger. Artificial respiration is carried out using an anesthesia machine.

In this case, venous and arterial blood transfusions are performed. The area of damage to the vein is limited with ligatures. A catheter is inserted into the vein and connected to a Janet syringe. The syringe makes it possible to extract about 150 mg of blood with air bubbles in it. Further actions should be aimed at eliminating the entry of air.

The operating table tilts to the left as the end where the head is located is lowered. In this case, air becomes trapped in the right atrium.

It is necessary to begin aspiration of air from the central vein using a catheter. If the air bubble has migrated to the brain, HBOT is used.

The patient should assume the Grendelenburg position, characterized by an inclined position of the torso with the head down. In this position, it is easier to capture the air embolus in the upper part of the ventricle if it reaches the heart.

And also at the same time, the speed of the moving air bubble will slow down, which will not be able to reach the heart. If the air bubble reaches the heart, cardiopulmonary resuscitation is urgently needed.

Treatment with a hyperbaric chamber

An effective way to get rid of a dangerous pathology is a pressure chamber in which the victim is placed. In a hermetically sealed chamber, the pressure is increased, which causes air bubbles to dissolve.

The body gets rid of the disease. After this, the pressure slowly decreases, the gas mixture saturated with oxygen is calmly inhaled by the patient. Gas leaves the body slowly, and air bubbles do not re-form.

What complications can there be after injections?

As a rule, 3 or 5 cc syringes are used for injection into the buttock. After the injection, a depot is formed inside the muscle tissue, from which the drug, thanks to a branched system of blood vessels, enters the blood and spreads throughout the body. A prerequisite for administering drugs into a muscle is maintaining basic hygiene. Just be extremely careful and don’t miss a single detail.

Everything takes no more than 2 minutes. A couple of times it actually hit the vessel - the blood flowed quite heavily after the injection, but it also stopped quickly. My husband was prescribed 10 injections in the buttock every other day. He did the first 3 at the clinic. There is also a chance that you hit a blood vessel. This sometimes happens, but if the part is injected into the correct area, then there should be no consequences. A bruise may form at the injection site, which will resolve fairly quickly.

If you did everything according to the instructions and got into the right square, then there should be no problems. Most likely the doctor hit the muscle unsuccessfully - no big deal. I give myself injections myself, sometimes my husband. I take hormonal oil-based ones. Before the injection, I make sure to warm up the ampoule to 40 degrees - according to the instructions. Very often I notice that an oily solution seeps out from the injection site and collects in a small drop.

Disease prognosis

The outcome of the pathology largely depends on the timely diagnosis of the embolic process. When air enters in a small amount, air bubbles, bypassing the heart and pulmonary trunk, stop in small vessels. They will quickly dissolve, the manifestations of the disease will disappear. It will take two hours to completely eliminate them.

For some of the air bubbles that have decreased in size but not dissolved, an increase in blood pressure and cough shocks will make it possible to move through the lungs into the systemic circulation.

This condition often causes a gas embolism in the brain.

With a mild course, the pathology will manifest itself as symptoms of an unstable nature. Severe cases can lead to seizures and death.

The considered pathological processes affect not only the professional activities of doctors; sometimes injections are carried out at home. You can get dangerously injured at home.

Providing first aid to a victim, calling an emergency ambulance is a chance to save a human life.

Stories about how an injection was given and air was introduced during the procedure are quite widespread. Some people don’t even allow themselves to have intravenous injections—they’re so afraid. Is it really instant death?

Rules for administering an injection

What happens if air gets into a vein? This question arises in people not only because of films and detective novels, but also due to the fact that before an injection, nurses try to carefully squeeze out all the bubbles that are there from the syringe or dropper. Such caution among clinic workers involuntarily prompts the patient to think that if air is introduced into a vein, something very terrible will certainly happen. However, it is not. It’s just that similar procedures are required for any type of injection. Firstly, if all the bubbles are not removed, it will be quite problematic to administer the drug quickly and painlessly. Secondly, if air does get in, then in the first minutes the patient will actually feel “local” discomfort, calling the injection “sick”. But as practice shows, such unpleasant symptoms disappear after some time.

It is for these reasons that nurses try to do intravenous, subcutaneous, or all the rules. After all, few people will like a “sick” injection, after which the leg or other parts of the body.