Clinical Experience with using a Rapid Infuse at an Urban Emergency Department

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Hypovolemia is not uncommon among trauma patients in the emergency department (ED). Successful resuscitation of a hypovolemic patient often requires rapid intravenous administration of massive amounts of fluid. A rapid fluid infuser is used in the ED for this purpose, there have been no studies of their clinical uses and effectiveness. We studied clinical experience with a rapid fluid infuser at an urban university hospital in Seoul, Korea. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 38 patients admitted to the ED with a history of application of a rapid fluid infuser from January 2004 to July 2005. Adult trauma patients older than 15 years of age were included in this study. Clinical data on the patients and the volume of fluid used to achieve a stable blood pressure were extracted from their medical records. RESULTS: The total number of adult trauma patients with a history of application of a rapid fluid infuser from January 2004 to July 2005 in the ED was 16. The mean systolic blood pressure for deciding to apply the rapid fluid infuser was 74.9+/-12.7 mmHg. The mean time and volume used to achieve a stable blood pressure were 40.4 min and 2947.3+/-1339.2 ml, respectively. In all patients, the amount of fluid infused before using the rapid fluid infuser was between 500 ml and 10,000 ml, compared to 1,000 ml and 6,200 ml with the rapid fluid infuser. The mean amount of fluid per min. via the rapid fluid infuser was 85.5 ml. Vital signs were stabilized in 11 patients, 6 of the 11 were discharged alive. CONCLUSION: The mean amount of fluid delivered per min. via the rapid fluid infuser was much less than expected; thus, there should be clinical guidelines on volume resuscitation with a rapid fluid infuser in the ED. In the future, prospective, multicenter, clinical-data collection is needed for a more sophisticated study.