Journal of Nursing Science Prevention of Potassium Chloride Infusion-induced Pain by Precision Infusion Sets WANG Yan, ZHENG Ning, XIAO Haili Department of Gastroenterology, Wuhan General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Abstract: Single blind study was conducted in the infusions of potassium chloride for 113 patients, who were treated with Common Infusion Sets on odd days and Precision Infusion Sets on even days. The chief complaints of limb pain were recorded. The incidence of infusion-induced pain treated by the Precision Infusion Sets was significantly lower than the common infusion sets. The infusion phlebitis can be effectively prevented by the use of Precision Infusion Sets. Key Words: Potassium Chloride, Particles, Precision Infusion Sets CLC No.: R472.4 The particles in the hypertonic drug and its own irritation, can lead to the occurrence of infusion-induced phlebitis[1]. The clinical features include limb pain, redness and swelling. Potassium Chloride is commonly used in the clinical treatments. Pain caused by intravenous infusion of potassium chloride is always obvious and common, which sometimes may affect the normal infusion of patients. January to April in 2003, the infusion sets with precision filters had been applied to prevent phlebitis in the infusions of potassium chloride and achieve good results. 1 Objects & Methods 1.1 Objects A total of 113 patients received infusions of potassium chloride in this study, including 62 males and 51 females, aged between 20~64 years old with the average of 41.6 years old. Among 113 patients, there were 18 cases of acute gastroenteritis , 42 cases of pancreatitis, 21 cases of gastrointestinal tumors, 32 cases of biliary infection. The influence of high blood pressure and heart disease was excluded for all the objects. Infusion Method: Single blind study was conducted in the infusions of 500ml Lactate Ringer's solution(or 500ml 10% glucose) and 10ml 10~15% potassium chloride on 113 patients for 338 times. The 113 patients were treated with Common Infusion Sets(from supplier A) on odd days and Precision Infusion Sets with Filters (from Wuhan W.E.O Science & Technology , the model is WEO-JX-32B-3.0) on even days, successively 6 days. To reduce the influence caused by the individual differences and infusion conditions in the infusion process, a constant infusion dripping speed of 50 gtt/min was required.

Journal of Nursing Science Evaluation Method: The chief complaints of limb pain were recorded in the infusion process and after infusion. According to the pain rating scales: Grade 0: no symptoms; Grade 1: minor pains, usually not felt clearly; Grade 2: moderate pain, tolerable; Grade 3, Severe pain, difficult to bear; Grade 4, unbearable pain. The sum of incidence in all the pain grades is total pain incidence. Compare the chief complaints in the potassium chloride infusions between the Precision Infusion Sets and Common Infusion Sets. Statistical Methods: The data were tested by chi-square(χ2)....

Journal of Nursing Science the same time, the potassium ion can also cause the local pain, which synergizes with the effects of particles, can make the pain even worse. Based on the clinical trial results, we can conclude that using the Precision Infusion Sets can effectively prevent and reduce the infusion-induced phlebitis in the infusion of potassium chloride, which can safeguard the normal infusion therapy and has high value in clinical applications. Reference [1] WANG Hongchen. The harm of particles in infusion therapy[J]. Chinese Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 1979, 14(2):70. [2] Falchu K H,...