In medicine, infusion therapy deals with all aspects of fluid and medication infusion, via intravenous or

subcutaneous Subcutaneous may refer to: * Subcutaneous injection * Subcutaneous tissue The subcutaneous tissue (), also called the hypodermis, hypoderm (), subcutis, superficial fascia, is the lowermost layer of the integumentary system in vertebrates. The ...

application. A special

infusion pump An infusion pump infuses fluids, medication or nutrients into a patient's circulatory system. It is generally used intravenously, although subcutaneous, arterial and epidural infusions are occasionally used. Infusion pumps can administer flu ...

can be used for this purpose. A

fenestrated A fenestra (fenestration; plural fenestrae or fenestrations) is any small opening or pore, commonly used as a term in the biological sciences. It is the Latin word for "window", and is used in various fields to describe a pore in an anatomical ...

catheter is most frequently inserted into the localized area to be treated. There are a range of delivery methods for infusion of drugs via catheter: *Electronic Pump: Drugs are often pre-mixed from vials and stored in infusion bags to be delivered by electronic pump. *

Elastomeric pump Elastomeric pumps - also called balloon pumps - are usually used in the medical field to administer liquid drugs such as local anesthetics, analgesics, cytostatics or antibiotics (depending on the therapy). The required pressure for administr ...

*Pre-Filled Infusion Therapy: with this latest technology, a unit dose can be metered to the location from a pre-filled container. Infusion therapy has a range of medical applications including sedation, anesthesia, post-operative analgesic pain management, chemotherapy, and treatment of infectious diseases Advantages of infusion therapy over other non-site-specific delivery methodologies are primarily efficacy through precision of medication delivery. New standards for infusible pharmaceuticals have been achieved in recent years with the advent of pre-filled, ready-to-use, dose-specific products. Advanced aseptic presentation, with hermetically sealed containers, allows predictable sterility, ease of use, improved control, and lower total costs. Essentially, systematizing the delivery mechanism and standardizing the delivery container.

Treatments

Infusion therapy involves the administration of medication through a needle or catheter. Typically, "infusion therapy" means that a drug is administered intravenously or subcutaneously. The term may pertain where drugs are provided through other non-oral

routes of administration A route of administration in pharmacology and toxicology is the way by which a drug, fluid, poison, or other substance is taken into the body. Routes of administration are generally classified by the location at which the substance is applied. ...

, such as

intramuscular injection Intramuscular injection, often abbreviated IM, is the injection of a substance into a muscle. In medicine, it is one of several methods for parenteral administration of medications. Intramuscular injection may be preferred because muscles have ...

and

epidural administration Epidural administration (from Ancient Greek ἐπί, , upon" + ''dura mater'') is a method of medication administration in which a medicine is injected into the epidural space around the spinal cord. The epidural route is used by physicians and ...

(into the membranes surrounding the spinal cord). Until the 1980s, patients receiving infusion therapy often had to remain in an inpatient setting for the duration of their therapy. New technologies and heightened emphasis on cost containment in

health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health ...

, as well as developments in the clinical administration of the therapy, led to strategies to administer infusion therapy in alternate settings (at clinics and at home) in an effort to reduce hospital readmissions.

References

{{Reflist Routes of administration