Our nursing professors cautioned us about the risk of not using proper technique when removing central lines, their warnings sometimes seeming dramatic and unlikely. That’s why this previously released interview with Nurse Marissa is such an important story, because sometimes those rare cases DO happen!

In this episode, Marissa tells the story of a patient that was admitted for her mental status, lethargy and hyperkalemia. She seemed to improve but then became unresponsive, and the rapid response team was called. What followed was the surprising discovery of air in her brain, and a probe into how it happened.

At the end of Marissa’s story, host Sarah Lorenzini shares her research on air embolisms, including how air gets into the bloodstream, what happens when it travels to each part of the body, and the level of risk associated with each scenario.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know the steps you can take if your patient pulls their central line just like Marissa’s patient, what signs to look for, and how to treat a cerebral embolus if it occurs. Tune in now!

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Marissa’s journey from Med-Surg nurse to Cardiac ICU to Rapid Response
• Her patient’s presentation and patient history
• What the patient’s CT showed
• How they treated the patient for air in the brain
• How air gets into the bloodstream
• The risk associated with air embolisms
• What to do if your patient pulls their own central line
• Things to remember about air embolisms

Learn more about the pathophysiology of air embolism in the brain in this article by the American Heart Association, called Accidental Air Embolism: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/STROKEAHA.119.025340