The administration of 24-hour continuous chemotherapy infusions is common in certain regimens, such as EPOCH (etoposide, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, and doxorubicin). Such regimens are notorious for clinically insignificant air-in-line (AIL) alarms because of the naturally bubbly composition of the drugs involved. An antisiphon valve, placed at the end of the IV tubing to pressurize the infusion and to minimize air bubbles, was found to decrease clinically insignificant AIL alarms. The positive outcomes of the current study could be applied to other infusions known for frequent clinically insignificant AIL alarms.
Keywords: antineoplastic protocols; clinical alarms; drug delivery; infusion pumps.