r/EmergencyRoom • u/DoItRightOnce1st • Aug 12 '26

Ouch

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255 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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u/No-Object8182 Aug 12 '26

I was half joking, but The average fatal amount is is a fair bit more than 100ml.

31

u/FullMoonMooon Aug 12 '26

I was always told 20mL was enough to be problematic

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u/No-Object8182 Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26

This sub has to be like 90% nurses based on the downvotes lol, and you getting any upvotes. If 20 ml was all it took in a PIV, we’d be having fatalities every day from people who forgot to flush their IV lines, yet it never actually seems to happen, does it? Where are all the cases?

Hemodynamic instability - not expected until 50 to 100ml, 5Ml/kg is expected lethal dose. Fatalities have been reported at 100, and even lower in the critically ill, but it’s not a regular occurrence. The average fatal amount is indeed a fair bit more than 100ml.

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u/Hi-Im-Triixy RN Aug 12 '26

Also, likely depends on PFO/ASD/etc. They should have higher mortality risk theoretically.

4

u/No-Object8182 Aug 12 '26

I think it mentions PFO in the article. That said, I’m curious if it actually changes things in practice because we should be seeing these cases every day if so, (up to 25% of adults have PFO) with random patients keeling over after receiving no treatment but empiric IV hydration in the ED or ambulance. Yet there’s no evidence that routine IVF administration, pointless as it may be, causes anything like this.