General-purpose infusion pumps

General-purpose infusion pumps deliver liquid medications to patients through intravenous or epidural routes at specified flows. They are most often used in hospitals and alternative care settings (e.g., physician' offices, patients' homes) when liquid medications need to be administered with greater accuracy or at higher flows than can be provided through a manually adjusted gravity administration set. In this Update of our February 1997 Evaluation of infusion pumps (Health Devices 26[2]), we tested 3 additional pumps from 3 suppliers. We also rated and ranked them in comparison with the 16 units from the February 1997 study that are still being produced. With a few exceptions, we tested the new pumps against the same criteria and using the same test methods as those in the previous Evaluation. However, for this Update, the focus of our findings has broadened: although we continue to place strong emphasis on the pumps' protection against gravity free-flow, we also give significant weight to their overall safety, performance, and human factors design. As a result, our ratings and rankings scheme has changed, affecting the rankings of some of the previously evaluated units. Of the 19 currently available units that have been evaluated to date, we rated 13 units Acceptable, with 5 of those units ranked above the other 8. A further 5 units were rated Conditionally Acceptable; we consider them Acceptable if they are used with the available free-flow protection. And 1 unit had performance problems that caused us to rate it Unacceptable (this unit has been recalled by its supplier; see the inset on page 162). As always, we caution readers not to base selection and purchasing decisions on our conclusions alone, but on a thorough understanding of the issues behind those conclusions, which can be gained by reading this Evaluation in its entirety and carefully reviewing the February 1997 issue.