Will You Really Die From an Air Bubble in a Syringe?

Air is great in your lungs, but will an air injection in your veins leave you dead?

Is this a deadly weapon? Photo by Manik Roy on Unsplash

I’ve seen it featured in medical dramas on television: there’s an air bubble, either from a syringe or from an IV bag, that gets into a patient’s bloodstream. Smash cut to the patient collapsing from a terrible stroke.

It’s scary to think about — something as simple as a routine vaccination or injection could leave you incapacitated or dead, just from a little bit of gas slipping in where it doesn’t belong.

…right?

Or is this a medical myth, and you can handle some air in your bloodstream without issue?

It turns out that it’s more complex than simply “air bubble in the bloodstream.” Put it in one area, you’ll likely be fine. Put it in another area, you’re in real trouble.

Let’s learn about why.

Our body does have a way of filtering out air from our bloodstream…

First off, let’s put any hypochondriacs to rest; you are not guaranteed to die if there’s a small air bubble in your IV line or in your syringe. For the most part, this is an exaggeration on the part of medical television dramas.