title: Taste and Odour Disturbances in Pediatric Patients Undergoing IV Flush with Normal Saline Administered by Prefilled or Freshly Prepared Syringes: Randomized Single-Blind Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous studies have reported the occurrence of taste and odour disturbances among patients undergoing IV flush with prefilled syringes of 0.9% sodium chloride (normal saline [NS]). These disturbances have been attributed to the leaching of volatile substances into the NS from the plastic of the syringe. To date, there have been no studies comparing the occurrence of taste and odour disturbances with different NS preparations.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare the occurrence of taste and odour disturbances in pediatric patients undergoing IV flush with commercially available prefilled NS syringes and NS syringes prepared fresh daily.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients aged 6 to 18 years who underwent routine flushing of central or peripheral IV tubing were asked to participate in this follow-up randomized single-blind study. Flushing was performed with NS from BD PosiFlush 10-mL sterile prefilled syringes or NS transferred from a polyolefin bag (Baxter AVIVA) to a polypropylene syringe and stored for a maximum of 12 h before use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty pediatric patients (mean age ± standard deviation 13.4 ± 3.8 years) who had undergone flushing of IV tubing with NS were interviewed. Taste or odour disturbances were reported by 18 (72%) of the 25 patients who underwent flushing with NS from a prefilled syringe, whereas only 1 (4%) of the 25 who underwent flushing with NS from a freshly prepared syringe experienced such disturbances (p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There were significant differences in taste and odour disturbances experienced by patients who underwent IV flush with commercial prefilled NS syringes and freshly prepared NS syringes.
authors.affiliation: BSc, is a student in the PharmD program, School of Pharmacy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mancini
authors.affiliation: BPharm, PharmD, FCSHP, FFIP, is with the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ontario.
authors.forename: Régis
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vaillancourt
authors.affiliation: PhD, is with the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ontario.
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pouliot
authors.affiliation: is a student in the Bachelor of Pharmacy program, School of Pharmacy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: RN, CVAA(C), is with the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ontario.
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sharp
keywords: fresh syringe; odour disturbance; prefilled syringes; saline IV flush; taste disturbance