Titrated intravenous opioids from the same syringe: An infection risk?

Abstract

Objective - (1) To compare the rate of contamination of syringes prepared under laminar flow conditions in pharmacy with those prepared by nurses in the emergency department; (2) to determine whether the time elapsed since preparation or number of doses given affected the contamination rate; (3) to determine whether any adverse effects resulted from bacterially contaminated drugs. Methods - Prospective, blinded trial exploring the effect of method of preparation, time since preparation, and number of doses given on contamination rates and infective adverse events associated with bacterially contaminated specimens. Results - The rate of bacterial contamination was 12% (95% confidence interval..