Hospitals and clinics are still seeing shortages of saline solution following damage to Baxter International's North Carolina facility earlier in the year.
The shortages have forced several health systems and facilities, including Mankato (Minn.) Surgery Center, to cut back on procedure volumes, according to a Dec. 14 report from The Free Press.
Hurricane Helene put IV shortages in the spotlight after damaging a North Carolina manufacturing plant in September. However, according to the FDA, three IV fluids have been in chronic shortage for years. Saline has been in shortage since 2018, sterile water has been in shortage since 2021 and dextrose solution has been in shortage since early 2022.
Currently, hospitals are getting about 40% of their normal saline shipments following plant damage.
While manufacturing has resumed, Baxter said it will take time for production to ramp up and reach the site's pre-Helene output levels.
As of mid-November, 47% of hospital supply chain leaders said their current inventory of large-volume fluids was down to two weeks' supply or less.
Surgery centers, including the Mankato facility, are trying to reduce shortage impact on patients.
The Mankato Surgery Center, one of the facilities where Orthopaedic & Fracture Clinic and Mankato Clinic surgeons perform surgeries and procedures, has cut back on some elective surgeries
"Mankato Clinic has continued to care for our patients and meet patient care needs during this disruption to the IV fluid supply chain," April Oachs, RN, director of specialty care at Mankato Clinic, told The Free Press. "We follow protocol to safely reduce usage by giving less IV fluid amounts or using oral hydration instead of IV hydration to conserve. We continue to monitor the situation closely."
"The Mankato Surgery Center has been limiting certain elective surgeries that require a significant volume of intraoperative fluids," Garret Hilgendorf, administrator of the center, told the Press. "Due to the shortage, we receive a weekly allocation. We are working to schedule patients for upcoming surgeries and are encouraged that Baxter has restored operations at its North Carolina plant."