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Baxter elastomeric pumps: Feasibility of weight estimates.
Carole R Chambers1, Mica Pabia2, Michael Sawyer3
11 Pharmacy Director, Cancer Services Alberta Health Services, Canada.
Summary
Weighing elastomeric infusion pumps is a feasible alternative to daily visual inspection for ensuring accurate fluorouracil delivery. This method confirms pump variability under real-world conditions, improving patient monitoring.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Medical Devices
Background:
- Elastomeric pumps are utilized for 46-hour fluorouracil infusions.
- Patients typically perform daily visual inspections of these pumps.
- Pumps have inherent variability (±10%), potentially increased by patient-specific factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the feasibility of weighing elastomeric pumps as an alternative to visual inspection.
- To confirm the real-world variability of these infusion pumps.
Main Methods:
- Empty elastomeric pumps were weighed using both pharmacy and kitchen scales.
- Infusion pumps were weighed post-46-hour infusion using both scale types.
Main Results:
- Kitchen scales demonstrated accuracy comparable to pharmacy-grade scales.
- Post-infusion pump weights confirmed expected variability, with some pumps exhibiting greater deviations attributed to patient-related variables.
Conclusions:
- Weighing elastomeric pumps is a viable method for both pharmacy and home settings.
- Further research is recommended to weigh pumps during infusion to validate this method as a replacement for patient visual inspection.
