Why don't doctors pull back the plunger?

[vantranist]

SWIM was just thinking why every junkie/IV drug user should always Pull back the plunger on the syringe to insure they wont miss fire.

Meanwhile I don't think swim has ever recived anything IV from a doctor who pulled back the syringe to insure he was in a vein, or do they?

Why us this?
Can they just tell when they hit the right spot due to exprience?

[old hippie 56]

Usually, when they give a IV type drug, there is already a IV drip in place. If not, the nurses are very skilled and they don't pull back much.

[Fantasian]

As hippie says usually an IV cannula is positioned to administered any IV medication from which they've already taken blood or flushed so know it's properly insitu inside a vein.

If it's given direct (which is very rare) doctors/nurses would pull back a small amount to ensure they'd got into a vein and also would watch the area carefully for any sort of bubbling of the skin. It's worth noting though that with experience one can literally feel the resistance between putting a needle through skin and subcutanous tissue and the softer feel of a vein

[Richard_smoker]

when i read the title to this thread, i naturally assumed you were asking about why doctors don't usually pull back on the plunger when administering IM shots.

This is really something that doctors hardly ever do, while nurses and patients BOTH are instructed over and over again that they MUST pull back to make sure they're not in a vein.

In actuality, there's only a very tiny chance that a needle stuck into the correct location (the muscle belly) will actually end up in a vein. Doctors know and understand the anatomy as well as the consequences of shooting into a vein on accident (usually there's no consequence to the patient's health--only that a delayed-release 'depot' injection will be eliminated faster than usual). So, while they SAY that you should always pull back, they rarely ever do this themselves.

sorry if this post is seen as being off-topic. The reason i address this issue is because this is a time when doctors do NOT typically pull-back despite every indication that it is an absolute necessity. -DICK