Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 11, 2026
Intravascular Perfusion of Carbon Black Ink Allows Reliable Visualization of Cerebral Vessels
Published on: January 4, 2013
Detecting an infiltrated intravenous catheter using indigo carmine: a novel method
Mingda Chen1, Ashraf S Habib, Moeen K Panni
1Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
An extravasated IV catheter may have serious clinical consequences. These include the inability to circulate emergency medications, cause pain on injection, infection at the site, and tissue damage. Clinical signs such as swelling, redness, and pain with injection are valuable, but may not be helpful in the presence of obesity, edema, or in a tracheally intubated and sedated patient. Here we describe a case illustrating a novel approach in which we used an IV dye injection (indigo carmine) to detect a correctly placed and then an extravasated IV. The ability to see visible flow of IV dye intravascularly helped confirm the correct placement. The technique we describe is quick, safe, and inexpensive.
An extravasated IV catheter may have serious clinical consequences. These include the inability to circulate emergency medications, cause pain on injection, infection at the site, and tissue damage. Clinical signs such as swelling, redness, and pain with injection are valuable, but may not be helpful in the presence of obesity, edema, or in a tracheally intubated and sedated patient. Here we describe a case illustrating a novel approach in which we used an IV dye injection (indigo carmine) to detect a correctly placed and then an extravasated IV. The ability to see visible flow of IV dye intravascularly helped confirm the correct placement. The technique we describe is quick, safe, and inexpensive.
