Medication safety enhancement for secondary infusion

摘要

A system for determining a fault condition in an infusion system includes an infusion pump capable of infusing fluid from a primary container connected to an upstream infusion line and a secondary container connected to the upstream infusion line through a secondary infusion line. The secondary infusion line has a valve to control flow of the secondary fluid in the secondary fluid line and the upstream infusion line has a check valve disposed between the primary container and the connection of the secondary infusion line to the upstream infusion line. The check valve is for preventing flow backwards from the upstream infusion line into the primary container. The system includes a pressure sensor disposed adjacent the upstream infusion line below the connection of the secondary infusion line to the upstream infusion line. The pressure sensor is in operative arrangement with the upstream infusion line to measure pressure within the upstream infusion line. The pressure sensor provides signals representative of the pressure within the upstream infusion line. The system includes a memory for storing pressure related values; and a processor in communication with the memory and responsive to the signals provided by the pressure sensor. The processor is programmed to sample the pressure signals, establish a baseline pressure value, store the baseline pressure value in the memory, compare the baseline pressure value with pressure values sampled at a latter time, and if the latter sampled pressure value equals or is greater than a selected threshold pressure value, provide an alert that a fault condition exists.