Infusion pumps are among the most common medical equipment used in hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

With their precision and accuracy, these medical devices are transforming drug and fluid delivery to patients, especially in chronic cases where oral and other routes are not viable.

But what exactly is an infusion pump, how does it work, how many types are there, and what are its benefits and drawbacks? Precise answers to these questions are what you find in the rest of the article.

Infusion pumps are therapy equipment that healthcare professionals use to deliver drugs and fluids straight into the patient’s body under controlled settings.

Drugs delivered to patients using infusion pumps include pain relievers, antibiotics, hormone therapies like insulin, and chemotherapies.

Generally, infusion pumps have 3 main parts:

Depending on the type, an infusion pump can have more than these three parts. The type also determines if the clinician operates it manually or smartly with a remote device.

Infusion pump type also defines several other aspects of infusion pumps, as explained below.

There are several types of infusion pumps, categorized according to the following features.

Categorizing infusion pumps by design considers whether they are stationary or ambulatory. Stationary IV pumps stay at the patient’s bedside while ambulatory models like the Autoinfu can be moved around on a trolley or wheel clamp or worn by the patient.

Infusion pumps can be large-volume, also known as volumetric infusion pumps, which deliver fluids at 0.1mL/hr to ≥999mL/hr, or small-volume infusion pumps, which deliver fluids at ≤60mL/hr.

Going by their delivery mode, infusion pumps fall under one of these categories:

Infusion pumps operate either electrically or mechanically to send fluid from the reservoir to the patient’s body. Electrically powered IV pumps operate by the peristaltic or piston mechanism. Mechanically-operating infusion pumps use ballon pressure to move fluids without any power source.

Going by the operating mode, infusion pumps can be categorized as follows:

All these types of infusion pumps have similar benefits over manual therapy delivery.

Because of their controlled drug and fluid delivery mechanisms, infusion pumps have several benefits over manual medication to patients. These benefits include:

However, like other equipment, infusion pumps can also present drawbacks in patient safety.

Infusion pumps deliver medications straight into the patient's circulatory system. As such, any equipment or user-related errors can cause adverse effects with significant safety implications for patients.

While keeping patients safe is why IV pumps have safety features such as alarms in case of occlusion or over/under dosage, these errors can still happen.

Research suggests infusion-related complications affect one in every five patients due to inaccurate administration. As such, consistent infusion pump testing is necessary to ensure their revolutionary role in drug administration remains advantageous.

Infusion pumps make direct drug and fluid delivery to the patient’s body easy, safe, and accurate where oral and other administration modes fall short.

Medical facilities and privately-operating medics can choose from a wide range of infusion pump types to reap their benefits in therapy administration.

Since infusion pumps are human-made equipment with drawbacks, consistent testing to better their reliability is the way to go.