Ambulatory Infusion Pump and its Use

Alex D'Souza, Medical Tech Outlook | Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Ambulatory infusion pumps are ideally suited for patients with regular or continuous infusions. The pump helps the patient about their lives without the need to be in a hospital or stay in bed.

FREMONT, CA: For the past six decades, infusion pumps have been an integral component of healthcare equipment and can be used in all hospitals. It's the safest way for physicians and nurses to efficiently and reliably deliver fluids and drugs to patients.

This makes them invaluable both in emergency cases and in patients with long-term illnesses. There are thousands, if not hundreds, of various infusion pumps, but they can usually be divided into two major categories: ambulatory infusion pumps and stationary infusion pumps.

Ambulatory infusion pumps are compact and light enough for patients to use them on the go. Many IV infusion pumps enable patients to remain in their beds for medical care, but the IV outpatient pumps allow them to be mobile. These pumps can be attached to clothes or held in an outpatient pump pouch when prescribing medicines and other fluids, and patients can live their everyday lives unaffected and uncontrolled.

Ambulatory IV pumps can handle these life-saving solutions in a variety of ways:

1. Intravenous or through the patient's vein.

2. Subcutaneous or beneath the skin.

3. Epidurally or by injection near the spinal cord.

Ambulatory infusion pumps are ideally suited for patients with regular or continuous infusions. The pump helps the patient about their lives without the need to be in a hospital or stay in bed. These IV pumps are usually used to treat people with chronic pain, infections, stomach diseases, diabetes, cancer, and other chronic conditions. They are seen both in the hospital and at home by those with at-home treatment.

When Should One Use an Ambulatory Pump?

While portable ambulatory infusion pumps are not the best option in any medical situation, they are enormously beneficial to patients who have long-term disabilities but want to maintain their mobility and freedom of movement. Ambulatory pumps can help patients control their symptoms and retain improved mental health, giving a vast improvement to overall patient care.

Based on the patient's unique diagnosis and prognosis and the medications being injected, doctors or nurses may select from a variety of different pump types. For example, elastomeric pumps do not need batteries or an external power supply and infuse medication into the patient using pressure alone. Elastomeric pumps are also not as reliable as an electric pump, but there is almost no risk of a user error or error in setting the flow rate.

Electronic pumps often need a power source, such as a battery, which usually works by peristaltic mechanisms that force the infusion along by using appendices that travel in coordinated motion (similar to peristalsis of the bowel). The flow speeds are preprogrammed into the system as either transient or continuous infusions. Most of these pumps come with audio and flashing visual warnings to warn consumers of potentially fatal failures, such as occlusion, low battery, or pump malfunctions.