Infusion of fluids and drugs at very low rates may be necessary in neonatal intensive care. Marked haemodynamic fluctuations occurring during the infusion of inotropes have been shown to be due to the sticking of the plunger in the barrel of syringes used in syringe drivers. The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration has recommended the use of volumetric or peristaltic pumps in these circumstances. We tested a number of infusion systems and found that 1. some syringes give continuous flow at low rates, and would be suitable for the delivery of inotropes, and 2. some infusion pumps provide non-continuous flow at low rates, and would not be satisfactory for the infusion of inotropes.
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2.
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Therapeutic Goods Administration. Disposable syringes and syringe pumps. Australian Therapeutic Device Bulletin1993; 3:6.
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Therapeutic Goods Administration.Mismatching of syringes with syringe infusion pumps. Australian Therapeutic Device Bulletin1994; 2:8.
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ISO/CD 7886–2 Draft.Sterile hypodermic syringes for single use. Part 2: Syringes for use with power-driven syringe pumps. 1994 International Organisation for Standardisation, Geneva, Switzerland.
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Syringes may cause infusion pump alarm: more than 1 million recalled. Biomedical Safety and Standards1991(Jan 1):5.
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MannHJ, FuhsDH, CerraFB.Effect of infusion pump fill-stroke interruptions on response to sodium nitroprusside in surgical patients. Clin Pharm1988; 7:214–9.
8.
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