Errors in Intravenous Drug Doses

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Reported March 31, 2003

Errors in Intravenous Drug Doses

LONDON (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- There's been a lot of news lately on the frequency of medical errors. A new study in this week's issue of the British Medical Journal outlines another error occurring in the medical field.

Researchers from London collected data on the number, type, and clinical importance of errors in the preparation and administration of intravenous drugs over a period of 6 to 10 days. Ten wards in two different hospitals were included in the study. There were 1,042 doses of intravenous drugs prescribed for more than 100 patients during the study.

Researchers found errors occurred in nearly half of the intravenous drug doses

Preparation errors occurred in 7 percent of the doses

Administration errors occurred in 36 percent of the doses

Both types of errors occurred in 6 percent of the doses

Researchers say errors were potentially harmful in about one-third of the cases. They say most of the errors occurred when giving bolus doses too quickly or when multiple steps were required in preparing the drug. A bolus is the injection of a drug in a high quantity at once.

Authors of the study conclude, "The rate of intravenous drug errors was high. Although most errors would cause only short term adverse effects, a few could have been serious." To reduce these types of errors, researchers say, "A combination of reducing the amount of preparation on the ward, training, and technology to administer slow bolus doses would probably have the greatest effect on error rates.

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This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: British Medical Journal, 2003;326:684-687

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