Dextrose (Glucose) 5% Iv 1 Litre

Dextrose 5% intravenous infusion in a 1 litre bag - 50 grams of glucose per litre in water for injection. It is a clinical supply item for use by trained healthcare professionals under prescription, stocked by clinics, day procedure units, aged care facilities and ambulance services. It is not a consumer product.

Why Dextrose 5% behaves differently to saline

The behaviour that matters clinically is what happens after it goes in. Dextrose 5% is approximately isotonic in the bag, so it does not haemolyse red cells on infusion - but the glucose is metabolised quickly, and what remains distributed through the body is effectively free water. That is why it is chosen when free water is the requirement, and why it behaves quite differently from sodium chloride 0.9%, which stays in the extracellular compartment.

It supplies a modest amount of energy alongside the fluid - 50g of glucose per litre - which is meaningful for a patient who is not eating but is nowhere near nutritional support. It is also widely used as a vehicle for compatible intravenous medicines, where the fluid is the delivery mechanism rather than the therapy.

Selection between dextrose and saline is a clinical decision, not a stock decision. Free-water replacement, sodium status, glucose tolerance and the compatibility of any drug being added all bear on it, and getting it wrong matters. Follow your local protocols and the product information rather than substituting one clear bag for another.

Key features

• Dextrose (glucose) 5% w/v intravenous infusion
• 50 grams of glucose per litre
• 1 litre bag
• Approximately isotonic in the bag
• Provides free water once the glucose is metabolised
• Commonly used as a vehicle for compatible IV medicines
• For administration by trained healthcare professionals

Specifications

Common uses

This is clinical stock rather than a retail item. Clinics and day procedure units hold it for perioperative and procedural fluids; aged care and subacute facilities for maintenance fluids and free-water replacement; ambulance and retrieval services as part of a standard fluid load. It is also stocked simply as a diluent where compatible medicines are given by infusion. Order it alongside a standard IV giving set and Surflo IV cannulae, and see sodium chloride for irrigation for non-infusion saline. Part of our wider medical supplies range.