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Had An IV Inserted, Knot In Vein, Pain In Forearm. What Is Going On?
on october 30th I had an IV inserted at the emergency room. They took it out and I left, well a couple of days later I noticed that the vein had a knot in it, then a couple of days after noticing the knot I started to realize that my elbow didn t like to be straight, and to reach and grab with my hand caused shooting pain up my forearm , so it s getting worse to the point that when I pick things up with that hand my hand opens up and I drop whatever it was that I was holding, shaking hands with people just about kills me...what in the world did they do to me in the emergency room, I don t have any ideas and I m a phlebotomist .
posted on
Mon, 24 Dec 2012
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Tue, 25 Dec 2012
Answered on
Wed, 26 Dec 2012
Last reviewed on
Hello,
You have described your symptoms very nicely and from the description that you have given, it appears that you have developed thrombophlebitis - an infection of a vein. This can occur after an IV is inserted and generally spreads along the vein path. You will feel a cord like structure along with tenderness along the vein.
Generally it is self resolving and and all you need to do is take some rest, take paracetamol if its painful and apply thrombophobe -a heparin ointment which will reduce the problem. If the pain persists please dont hesitate to see a suregon who can examine it and opine you better.
Hope I am able to solve your concerns.
Thanks
You have described your symptoms very nicely and from the description that you have given, it appears that you have developed thrombophlebitis - an infection of a vein. This can occur after an IV is inserted and generally spreads along the vein path. You will feel a cord like structure along with tenderness along the vein.
Generally it is self resolving and and all you need to do is take some rest, take paracetamol if its painful and apply thrombophobe -a heparin ointment which will reduce the problem. If the pain persists please dont hesitate to see a suregon who can examine it and opine you better.
Hope I am able to solve your concerns.
Thanks
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