IV bags of normal saline, D5W do not support bacterial growth 24 hours after spiking

Editor's Note

No bacterial growth was found in any of 257 samples of normal saline and dextrose 5% in water (D5W) 24 hours after using standard sterile techniques to spike them in the perioperative area.

Two 1000 mL bags of IV normal saline and D5W were spiked and hung in five busy perioperative areas, once a week for 13 weeks. A 10 mL sample was drawn from each bag at time zero and 24 hours. All samples were inoculated in two separate growth media (sheep’s blood, thioglycollate broth).

No growth was identified in any of the specimens.

Though the Joint Commission requires that sterile preparations be administered no later than 1 hour after preparation, the results show that normal saline and D5W do not support bacterial growth 24 hours after preparation, the researchers note.