What Is Infusion Therapy or Intravenous ( IV ) Therapy?
The terms Intravenous and Infusion therapy are most used by doctors and other clinicians. But most people don’t know what is infusion therapy or intravenous therapy. These terms have different meanings and usages in the medical field.
Infusion therapy is a technique to infuse liquid medication into any part of the body through a needle. There are some medicines that a person can’t take orally because they are not effective for the digestive system. This therapy is used when no oral medicine is working properly. However, in intravenous therapy fluid and medicines are injected directly into a person’s veins. IV therapy is used for injecting medicine, water, blood, or any nutrients into the body. It infuses the liquid faster in the circulatory system of a person.
In this guide, you’ll learn about infusion and intravenous therapy, its uses, benefits, risks, procedures, and more.
What is Infusion Therapy?
Infusion therapy is a technique to provide medication through need in the body. It is a way to provide medicine when a person can’t take medicine orally. There are different types of drugs that can’t be taken orally because they can affect the digestive system. Through infusion therapy, these drugs can be infused into the body. Infusion therapy is used to deliver nutrition and medicines which include:
- Blood
- Antibiotics
- Antifungal medicines
- Biologics
- Growth hormones
- Immunoglobulin
- Heart medications
Usually, infusion therapy is used to provide patients with a controlled dose of a medicine. There are some serious situations where medicine needs to be injected quickly to save the life of the patient like
- Shocks
- Heart Attack
- Stroke
- Poisoning
On Which Conditions Infusion Therapy Is Used?
Infusion therapy is used in the treatment of many diseases. However, infusion therapy is commonly used for cancer patients. For cancer patients, there is a treatment called chemotherapy to treat cancer. Some drugs are given orally, and some are injected into a specific part of the body through infusion therapy. Through infusion therapy, the drug is delivered directly into the blood to treat the symptoms of cancer.
Moreover, infusion therapy is used for many common health issue which includes:
- Dehydration
- Pain
- Infections
- Immunity issues
- Heart Failure
- Autoimmune disorder
- Lupus
- Ulcerative colitis
- Psoriasis
- Cure blood clotting for hemophilia
- Immunoglobin replacement
- Insulin for diabetes
- Severe infections
- Hypercoagulation disorder
Benefits of Infusion Therapy
- Through infusion therapy, it provides fast relief. It is best in dealing with emergencies, allergic reactions during childbirth, or severe pain.
- Patients who can’t take oral medicine can get medicine injected into the body
- To provide a controlled dose of a specific medicine
- Infusion therapy helps drugs stay in the body for a long time
- Highly beneficial for several health conditions.
- Best for patients dealing with severe pain.
What are the risk factors with Infusion Therapy?
Inserting an infusion therapy needle is often a smooth process but it becomes challenging for patients who have small veins. In the case of small veins, infusion therapy can cause scars on tissue that may need time to heal. Sometimes, a little mistake can cause damage to your veins which can enhance the risk of the following issues:
- Infection
- Air embolism
- Collapsed veins
- Phlebitis
A needle may be dislocated from the specific area and deliver the medicine to other tissues. With some medicines and drugs, this can be very harmful and cause dangerous damage to the overall health. In this case, contact Infusion Therapy Services.
However, the infusion therapy can raise more risk but that depends on the medication. If you are using a new medication that can react to the body strongly, it may show some side effects. The side effects of infusion reaction are following:
- Fever
- Chills
- Headache
- Itching
- Joint or muscle pain
- Stiffness
- Rashes
- Shortness of breath
- Nausea
- Swelling
Therefore, before taking any medicine through infusion therapy, consult your doctor about all the treatments, your allergy history, and your diet. These factors can interact and cause many effects on health.
What is Intravenous Therapy
Intravenous or IV therapy is a method to deliver medications, drugs, fluids, or any vitamins directly into the veins of a patient. Intravenous therapy is used to treat many medical conditions and deficiencies that are affecting the body. The goal of intravenous is to provide fluid to the body that can address many medical conditions. In hospitals, health care, or infusion centers IV is used to provide specific medicines to the body. IV therapy consists of a plastic cannula that goes into the vein and provides fluid to the body.
The IV fluid is comprised of glucose, electrolytes, and water to treat different medical issues.
Uses of Intravenous Therapy
Below are the conditions where intravenous therapy is used.
- Pain
- Blood loss
- Malnutrition
- Severe Dehydration
- Inability to take food
Many doctors use this therapy to provide the essential nutrients and fluids to the body directly into the veins for rapid action.
Procedure Of Intravenous Therapy
Below is the procedure of IV therapy you must know before getting one.
- Before injecting IV, the health professional will choose a suitable vein where they can insert the cannula. The place where IV can be inserted in the wrist, forearm, or back of the hand.
- After selecting the vein, the health professional will sanitize the area with a solution before inserting the cannula.
- After sanitizing the area, they will insert the cannula and to fix it in place they will use adhesive tape.
- When the cannula is placed correctly, they will connect it with the tubing.
- During infusion therapy, the professional will check after some time to make sure that the cannula is flowing properly and there is no reaction to the area.
- Once they insert the whole fluid into the body, they will remove the cannula from the vein.
- After removing the cannula, they will apply some pressure to slow the bleeding.
- They may dress the area with cotton to make sure the bleeding is stopped.
Benefits of Intravenous Therapy
The Benefits of Using Intravenous Therapy are below:
- To provide medications, nutrients, and other fluids to the body rapidly, intravenous is very effective. It delivers directly to the veins to ensure quick recovery of the patient. In case of dehydration, it is very effective to provide fluid to the patient quickly.
- IV therapy is a technique that bypasses the gastric system and helps the body absorb more fluid to pass it to the digestive system. It makes it easy to provide medicine to the target part of the body.
- Intravenous therapy is a convenient option to make the medicine long-lasting. When a cannula is inserted, it can stay in the body for many days. You can take proper treatment without inserting an IV again and again.
Risk of Intravenous Therapy
Intravenous Or IV therapy is an effective and safe option but some people may get side effects from it which include:
- Swelling in the area where the IV was inserted
- Damage to blood vessels
- Inflammation
- Bruising on the area
- Allergic reaction
- Blood clot
- Development of abscess
- Skin necrosis
Allergic reactions may appear during the IV therapy, but complicated side effects may appear after 2 or 3 days of IV insertion. The increase in risk depends on health professionals too. If he doesn’t insert it properly it can cause side effects. In case of side effects, Health Quest is here to provide medical assistance.
Final Thoughts
Infusion and Intravenous therapy are the most common ways to deliver fluid or medication to the body. If you want to get medicine through therapy, make sure the health professional has specialized training and skills. If you want therapy to cure your medical condition you can contact us at 833-612-3500.