Anaesthesia and intensive care
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The accuracy, safety, reliability and cost of use of 35 intravenous infusion pumps and 3 flow controllers were assessed. When infusing saline 11 out of 17 syringe pumps, 3 out of 5 peristaltic pumps, 1 out of 2 roller pumps and all 14 cassette pumps tested were accurate to within 5% over their full ranges of operation. There was no significant change in the performance of any of the pumps tested when saline was infused through a standard resistance, except in the cases of the 3 flow controllers which were unable to infuse at all against the resistance. ⋯ The cost of consumables for a single use for syringe pumps ranges from A$2 to $5, for peristaltic and roller pumps from A$1 to $10, and for cassette pumps from A$7 to $12, with an additional A$2 for a burette. Accurate delivery of intravenous fluids and drugs is available but is expensive and requires the operator to be specially trained. No simple, cheap, accurate device is yet available.