In which situations should I contact and inform a doctor or nursing staff?
Despite regular checkups and examinations by your GP or clinic, and despite careful adherence to the correct and learned handling, situations can arise during a parenteral nutrition infusion that require immediate abortion of the nutritional therapy so that you may be protected from greater ensuing complications. Your GP, nursing service and in some cases an A&E doctor must be notified in such cases.
Please therefore clarify, together with your GP and your nursing service before beginning your course of therapy, how you would like to proceed in the event of such a situation.
Please let us demonstrate in which cases parenteral nutrition could be aborted.
Please discontinue your parenteral nutrition therapy and consult your doctor or nursing service if any of the following appears or occurs:
- Fever and shivering (ague)
- Any swelling, reddening and pain in the exit area of the catheter or in the area of the port chamber, that is to say, the puncture site
- Nausea, vomiting, headache
- Blood in the catheter or transfer line (infusion no longer flowing)
- One-sided swelling of the neck and arm of the catheterized side of the body
- The catheter ‘slips’ out
- The catheter is ripped off (please clamp off the catheter as close to the body as possible)
- The infusion system has leaks
- The port cannot be flushed with a normal level of resistance
Please contact an A&E doctor immediately if you experience any abrupt chest pain or are short of breath. Please abort your parenteral nutrition therapy in this case.
Please inform your GP if you experience any other unpleasant symptoms.