Administration Devices

Administration Set

The basic method to administer a LVP solution is to use an administration set. The set contains a spiked plastic device to pierce a port on the IV container. This connects to a sight or drip chamber that may be used to set the flow rate, the rate ordered by the physician at which the solution is to be administered to the patient (generally measured in ml/hour). A clamp pinching the tubing also regulates flow. The line then leads to a rubber injection port to which a needle may be attached or to an infusion pump which will control the flow rate.

Heparin Lock

In some instances, a patient may not have a primary LVP solution, yet must receive piggyback medications. This is done through a heparin lock, which is a short piece of tubing attached to a needle or intravenous catheter. When the tubing is not being used for the piggyback, heparin is used to fill the tubing. This drug prevents blood from clotting in the tube.

Other Devices

Infusion pumps, syringe pumps, and ambulatory pumps are devices used to administer LVP solutions and control flow rates. Administration sets are threaded through infusion pumps, and the pumps control gravity flow. Syringe pumps expel solutions from a syringe into an administration set such as a heparin lock. An ambulatory pump is about the size of a hand. It allows patients to have some freedom of movement compared to being restricted to an infusion pump attached to an adminstration pole. Infusion pumps have made the infusion process much more accurate and easier to administer and have been a major factor in the growth of home infusion.