Panicking: Just noticed bump in hand vein! ER needed?

Hi everyone: I've been flipping out for a few hours. As I dried off after a shower, I noticed this bump. It's about an inch and a half further up my wrist from where my IV was (9 wks ago tomorrow). Until recently, the actual puncture spot was bruised and tender; the night before I was discharged from the hospital, this hand suddenly swelled up. The nurses pulled the IV (which the doctor had told me he'd ordered 12-hours earlier, but the order was somehow not recorded), told me to elevate my hand, and put a heat pack on it (aren't those cheapies awful, they get so hot so fast, then nothing? I've lived on Thermacare, which can sometimes last an entire day). The swelling gradually subsided.

The bump may have been there for a while, or it may have just surfaced. I don't know. I've been so focused on my abdomen instead!

Does this need urgent medical attention...
relaxed medical attention... or none at all? It's so scary, I mean, a vein after all! Even if it's nothing, I've let it ruin the last free day DH has off before a long trip.

Thanks for any advice!

Love and painfree wishes to all,

Hannah

Any time you are unsure or terrified about something, a call to your doctor would be better than worrying about it at home. Even if you're told it's nothing to worry about, the doctor is getting paid to answer your questions and take care of you, not just in the hospital but for all follow-up as well.

That being said, I'm not a doctor, but I as well as many others that I've read about on here, suffered similar problems. Veins can get easily irritated by the medication that goes in them when you have an IV. I know especially Toradol and Phenergan are especially hard on the veins (and you can tell by how much they burn going in that your veins might not like that). If you have bruising on your hand until recently, you probably got some sort of phlebitis (swelling of the vein) or something simlar. Oftentimes, even for weeks, a vein will get enlarged and be very hard because of how it reacts to the medicine. Heat on the vein help the blood circulation around the vessel and can promote healing.

My guess is that you just have some sort of phlebitis, although I'm suprised it didn't surface until now. When your hand was bruised before, has it been swollen at all?

If you're worried, call the doctor. That's what his job is. If you decide not to call him tonight, at least call the office in the morning and request to speak to the doctor or the nurse about your symptoms to see if they want you to come in to be examined. It's better to be safe than sorry!

If the bump hurts, I'd definitely call.

However, I just got back from visiting my mom & sis (both s) and asked about a funky looking vein lump I STILL have after 8-9 weeks. It doesn't hurt, just looks like a little tadpole under the skin. (My IV infiltrated twice while I was at the castle.) They both looked at me like "so" and said it will go away eventually. Some additional information would have been nice, but none was offered... so we just ate chicken instead.

Hope the rest of your recovery goes great!

My surgery was nearly six months ago. My IV infiltrated and I still have a blueish lump about the size of a pea that hurts when I press on it. A phlebotomist I know looked at it, said it was common and told me not to let anyone put an IV in that hand until it is gone. She never told me the reason why but did say that if I did have another IV in that hand before it cleared up it would probably infiltrate again.
Michelle

I am a bit of a "patient expert" on IV's - In other words I have no medical training, but have a lot of experience being a patient with IV's. I have a Central IV Line implanted in my chest, which is a catheter that runs directly into my heart, and I am on a minimum of one IV pump 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So please, do not take this as medical advice, I am not a doctor, and in all reality if it is stressing you out, call the doctor. S/He gets paid for it afterall, make them EARN that car payment girlfriend!

When an IV "infiltrates", it basically means that the catheter has slipped out of the vein (usually from movement) and therefore the fluid running through the IV then goes into the tissues under the skin, instead of into your veins. You have to remember that periphial IV's (IV's in the arms/hands/wrists) are rather small catheters and can dislodge rather easily. In all reality, infiltration is a minor problem, resulting in bruising and pain but TYPICALLY nothing serious. In the spot where an IV has infiltrated, you can see typically a bump, sometimes rather small like the eraser on a pencil, sometimes larger, like a shooting marble. It depends on how much fluid was allowed to run into your tissues before the IV was pulled.

If you decide to go to ER before calling your doctor, likely you will wait hours on end, and in the end, most likely they will send you home with a mild pain killer and tell you to put heat on it. If your doctor TELLS you to go to ER, then when you get there, tell the triage nurse that your doctor instructed you to come in.

It can be pretty painful because, afterall, there is fluid where it should not be. Also, if whatever was running through your IV was acidic in nature, or a rather strong medicine, it can feel like your skin is burning or stinging. It takes time, sometimes quite a bit of time, for the fluid to be reabsorbed by your body and away from that lump in the skin.

On the other hand, it may very well be a rather small clot. It would be considered a superficial clot, which are pretty much harmless, and not a Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), which is serious. Most doctors do not treat small superficial clots caused by IV's. The only time that clots from IV's are usually treated is when they are larger, and have the risk of traveling.

So some questions, just so I can try and help a little more - and please remember I am not giving medical advice and check with your doctor.

You said it was swelling in the hospital when you had it in - how long was your arm swelling for before your IV line was pulled?

After you went home, did the swelling go away and now it is back? Or was it always there and it is just more noticable now?

How large is the lump? Is it tender when you push on it slightly? (Don't push hard, if it is a clot you can dislodge it). Does it feel squishy or hard? Does it move when you push on it slightly, or does it stay put?

I might be able to explain further if you can answer the questions. But again, if it is stressing you out, call your doctor. You don't need stress right now.

Good luck and s
Nikki