3-2. INTRAVENOUS PREPARATIONS

You may have seen intravenous solutions being administered to a patient. The bottle or bag connected to the patient by a plastic tube means life to many patients.

a. Intravenous Solutions. Intravenous solutions are products that meet certain rigid requirements and are supplied ready for use by manufacturers. Examples of such intravenous solutions are five percent dextrose, 0.9 percent sodium chloride, and lactated Ringer's. These solutions are ready for use as soon as they arrive

from the manufacturer. You will see the lactated Ringer’s and the 0.9 percent sodium chloride used as "to keep open" (TKO) solutions. They serve as a ready and rapid way by which drugs could be given to the patient should the patient go into shock. These solutions serve as a "base" for the admixtures.

b. Intravenous Admixtures. Intravenous admixtures are intravenous solutions to which have been added one or more drugs. For example, it is common for a patient to be administered a liter of five percent dextrose which has 20 mEq of potassium chloride added to it. Thus, the patient received fluid, nutrients (dextrose), and electrolytes (potassium and chloride). Typically, patients receive much more complicated intravenous admixtures. These intravenous admixtures are usually prepared in the Pharmacy Sterile Products Section by specially trained personnel who use aseptic techniques. At times, it may be necessary for the physician or the person administering the infusion to add one or more drugs after the solution is already in place. This is done only on the physicians order.