End cap came off during night.

[Ohio Buckeye]

I don't sleep well and toss and turn a lot and am up and down with leg cramps
and I don't know when it happened or how but my end cap came off of my
pd tube during the night.  When I woke up and saw it laying on the floor next
to the bed I screamed.  I called my nurse and she told me to use the emergency clamp
to clamp the line off and come in and she changed the transfer set.  What a scare!
I thought I had peritonitis for sure.  Now I'm always double-checking it to make sure
it is tight. 

[Sara]

How scary!  Hopefully nothing happens and it will just be a lesson learned. 

[goofynina]

Did she give you any antibiotics??  When i first started PD and i unscrewed my pd extension to disconnect, i forgot to shut the port and she said i had an open contamination and i went in and they put a bag of solution (with antibiotics) in me that i had to let dwell for 6 hours (she said just to be on the safe side)  I dont understand how yours could've come off?  that is scary,  now i am going to really be checking mine all the time too.

[angieskidney]

I heard if something like that happens and then next thing is a drain it is not so bad .. but if you have to fill right after then it is REALLY bad. Is that right?

[JerseyGirl]

Buckeye did the right thing by calling his nurse. I too would have changed the transfer set.  Regarding antibiotics, the nurse should use her judgement and call the MD to let him know there was a possibility of contamination.  Often these days the doc prefers not to treat unless symptomatic because of the too liberal use of antibiotics today - the patient if treated too frequently with one antibiotic they may develop resistance and next time the drug of choice may be resistant to the bug.  Tighten those end caps, y'all.  Stuff happens!

[Panda_9]

Sometimes if the betadine/antiseptic pad becomes dry, the cap can come off. So perhaps put a fresh one on before bed, if its been a while since it was changed. If you have a catheter that is not being used for whatever reason, its a good idea to change the cap a couple of times a week. I was told to do this while I was going back and forth from PD to hemo.

[Ohio Buckeye]

I did not have to do any antibiotics.
She said that since the clamp was closed that I use to drain and fill that I did
not become contaminated.  My set did but not me.  Thank God. If I 
had went ahead and did an exchange from that set I would have become
contaminated is what I understand.  Anyway it sure scared  me.  I figure
I just must not have closed it tightly enough and with tossing and turning it came
loose.  I close it real tight now and check it often to make sure it is still tight.
 

[goofynina]

Ohh, ok, that makes sense to me.  Do you or have you ever had a problem with, when you connect and you go to screw it on it keeps on turning?  That has happend to me a couple of times already,

[Ohio Buckeye]

I haven't had it keep turning but there's been a couple of times when it was
like too tight and I could hardly get it to twist to get it open.  Like it was
stuck but I just kept working till it opened.  That is probably because I make it
too tight after the scare I had. 
btw, do you drain into a bag or a drain.  I drain into this large bag. She said that way I
can see if it is cloudy or anything.  But is is heavy.....  Also do you have an extension line?
I don't and sure cannot move very far away.  I took a banana to put next to my bed
in case my blood sugar dropped during the night and I needed something to eat.
Are you on the Baxter?  It is great today, having more time and freedom.  Didn't
have to hurry home to do an exchange.  great!  can get used to this fast I think.


 

[Ohio Buckeye]

ps - trying to think of a name for the cycler,  maybe Elvis.
sleeping with Elvis.............wow! 

[goofynina]

omg,  that was going to be my name for him but my hubby is such an Elvis fan, i think he was jealous, lol,  so i named mine, Fabio...

[Ginger]

O.B., I use patient extension lines when I travel as I need to get to the bathroom several times a night and the line is too short otherwise.  I can just reach the bathroom without the extension so unless I plan on changing my program to run for 9hrs and use extra solution or do not want to stay in the bedroom, I just use the regular line at home. I use a drain line hooked to the toilet and only use the drainage bag when I have to do an adequacy test. There is an extension for the drain line to make it reach the bathroom. To check the clarity of the drainage, I collect some in a clear container during a drain cycle to check it. If I am honest---I do not check it very often as so far have had no symptoms of peritonitis. If I really needed to check due to symptoms of peritonitis, I would put in a manual bag to double check.