Evidence-based intravenous pain treatment with analgesic infusion regimens.

Background And Objective: To survey all bedside-prepared analgesic infusions (two or more drugs within one vehicle) at a 1000-bed general hospital. To evaluate appropriate vehicles and acceptable drug combinations in analgesic infusions with regard to evidence-based therapy.

Design: Literature review; computer simulation of pharmacokinetics with MATLAB 6.

Standardization of infusion solutions to reduce the risk of incompatibility.

Purpose: Although critically ill patients usually have various central intravenous (i.v.) lines, numerous drugs have to be infused simultaneously through the same lines.