English to Spanish Medical Medical (general)

A saline lock (sometimes called a “hep-lock” for historic reasons), is an intravenous (IV) catheter that is threaded into a peripheral vein, flushed with saline, and then capped off for later use. This way you are not hooked up to an IV pole, but the nurses have easy access in case you need something injected into your vein later.

So why might a saline lock be used during labor and delivery? It can be used to administer IV pain medications, anti-nausea drugs, or antibiotics (in cases of Group B strep). If you receive Pitocin for induction or labor augmentation, then Pitocin has to be given through an IV infusion—and the saline lock will be hooked up to tubing and an IV pump/pole to continuously deliver the Pitocin through your IV.

What else? The saline lock can be used to hook you up to routine IV fluids (generally considered an unnecessary intervention as long as you are allowed to drink). You may be given some extra fluids through the saline lock if you become tired—this may give you a bit of a “boost” and may also reduce nausea.

If you request an epidural, you will automatically get a saline lock because an epidural is a higher-risk intervention and you must have IV access in case something goes wrong. If you have an epidural you will also need extra fluid injected into the IV to keep your blood pressure from dropping (a common side effect of epidurals is low blood pressure, which can adversely affect mom and baby).

A saline lock is also used commonly after birth to inject Pitocin to facilitate delivery of the placenta—however, this intervention is not always necessary and this medication can also be easily delivered through a one-time injection in the muscle.

Finally, a saline lock could be accessed if you have excess bleeding after birth, also known as post-partum hemorrhage. Nurses could give you IV fluids and (rarely) blood products to restore your body’s fluid and blood volume if you lose too much blood after birth. Overall, the post-partum hemorrhage rate in the U.S. is 2.9% (29 women out of 1000), and the percentage of women who require blood transfusion for hemorrhage is even smaller—only 0.26% (26 women out of 10,000.) (Bateman & Berman, 2010).

However, women who are at risk for having post-partum hemorrhage can usually be identified before delivery. For example, having a C-section drastically increases your risk of post-partum hemorrhage by 30-70%. Other risk factors for post-partum hemorrhage that can be identified before delivery include age less than 20 or greater than 40, pre-eclampsia, polyhydramnios, chorioamnionitis, having twins or multiples, and previous hemorrhage (Bateman & Berman, 2010). Only one risk factor cannot be identified until after delivery, and that is when there is a retained placenta.


Ya hay una pregunta con este término, pero la verdad las respuestas no me convencen. Creo que en realidad la palabra "saline" no significa que sea solo para solución salina, sino que es simplemente el "tubito" que te ponen en la mano, después te pueden pasar distintos remedios. Como si fuera la "mariposa" (así le decimos en Uruguay creo)

Acá hay fotos: http://www.google.com.uy/search?q="saline lock"&rlz=1G1ACAW_...

Gracias!