Mad Medicine

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Bad Air Day

Impossible: Little bubbles of air in an injection syringe or IV can kill you.

Nope. It takes 50 ml of rapidly infused intravenous air to cause hypotension (decreased blood pressure), and about 300 ml to kill an adult. The figures for infants are much lower; around 10 ml can be dangerous.

Venous air embolism is much more likely to occur during invasive procedures such as placement of a central venous line.

(And yes, blowing into the vagina of a pregnant woman is a Bad Idea).

References:

• Emedicine on venous air embolism