Effectiveness and safety of a disposable elastomeric continuous infusion pump for outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) in a UK setting

Abstract

We evaluated the effectiveness and safety of continuous antimicrobial infusion using a disposable elastomeric device in an outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) setting. We conducted a retrospective analysis of all patients who received either flucloxacillin (n = 131 episodes) or piperacillin/tazobactam (n = 301 episodes) as continuous infusion via elastomeric devices over 5 years (January 2018-December 2022) at a tertiary referral hospital in Derbyshire, UK. Overall, 81 adverse events were recorded in 77 (18%; 77/432) patient-episodes. Most adverse events were vascular access-related (59%; 4.6 events per 1000 OPAT-days), including one line-related infection (0.2%; 0.1 events per 1000 OPAT-days). 165 (38%) patient-episodes experienced at least one incident of incomplete infusion. Successful outcome (cure or improvement) occurred in 364 (84%) episodes. Our findings suggest that elastomeric infusion pumps are safe and effective for administering selected antimicrobial agents in OPAT. However, close monitoring of patients and the device are essential to ensure optimal delivery of prescribed therapy.

Keywords:

• Continuous infusion
• elastomeric infusion pump
• flucloxacillin
• outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy
• OPAT
• piperacillin/tazobactam

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the clinical staff working at the Derby OPAT service.

Author contributions

Conceptualization, O.C.D.; methodology, O.C.D.; software, O.C.D.; validation, E.I.K. and J.C.; formal analysis, E.I.K. and O.C.D.; investigation, O.C.D.; data curation, O.C.D.; writing—original draft preparation, O.C.D.; writing—review and editing, E.I.K. and J.C.; visualization, O.C.D. All authors have read and agreed to the final version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study received no external funding and was carried out as part of our routine work.