Introduction:
The administration of intravenous fluids (IV), is one of the most common and widely used interventions in the medical field, across the world. 'Intravenous' simply means within vein (Wikipedia encyclopaedia). IV therapy is an extremely efficient and effective method of supplying various fluids and medications into the body system which produce rapid effects and it also allows for injecting and administering large volumes of, again, any additional fluids or medications compared to other methods of administration. Sometimes patients must receive medications very rapidly and other times it could be that patients need a slow but constant flow of fluids and medications. In both these cases, intravenous therapy or intravenous medication administration may be needed, taking pills or liquids orally/ by mouth may not be fast enough to get medications in to the body, especially in the emergency or pre-hospital setting where medications must be absorbed timelessly.
Also, sometimes enzymes in the stomach may break down certain delicate medications or medicines meant to be long acting, thus these have to be given straight in to the persons blood …show more content…
Indications for IV therapy
As expected one would be, fluid and electrolyte replacement, another is the administration of medicines like adrenaline for example. More indications for IV therapy include blood sampling, Haemodynamic monitoring of blood pressures, blood flow and oxygen saturation and administration of blood and/or blood products.
Advantages are all too apparent for IV therapy. An advantage is that there is an almost immediate effect on patients, there is a control over the rate of administration, dilute infusions and prolonged actions. Another advantage is that it allows for the admin. of drugs which can not be given by any other 'route', quickly and painlessly. (Smithers,
The administration of intravenous fluids (IV), is one of the most common and widely used interventions in the medical field, across the world. 'Intravenous' simply means within vein (Wikipedia encyclopaedia). IV therapy is an extremely efficient and effective method of supplying various fluids and medications into the body system which produce rapid effects and it also allows for injecting and administering large volumes of, again, any additional fluids or medications compared to other methods of administration. Sometimes patients must receive medications very rapidly and other times it could be that patients need a slow but constant flow of fluids and medications. In both these cases, intravenous therapy or intravenous medication administration may be needed, taking pills or liquids orally/ by mouth may not be fast enough to get medications in to the body, especially in the emergency or pre-hospital setting where medications must be absorbed timelessly.
Also, sometimes enzymes in the stomach may break down certain delicate medications or medicines meant to be long acting, thus these have to be given straight in to the persons blood …show more content…
Indications for IV therapy
As expected one would be, fluid and electrolyte replacement, another is the administration of medicines like adrenaline for example. More indications for IV therapy include blood sampling, Haemodynamic monitoring of blood pressures, blood flow and oxygen saturation and administration of blood and/or blood products.
Advantages are all too apparent for IV therapy. An advantage is that there is an almost immediate effect on patients, there is a control over the rate of administration, dilute infusions and prolonged actions. Another advantage is that it allows for the admin. of drugs which can not be given by any other 'route', quickly and painlessly. (Smithers,