Introduction:

Smart infusion pumps have become a useful tool for the safe administration of intravenous medications, since they allow the prevention of potential adverse events.

Objetive:

To assess adherence and potential adverse events prevented during intravenous medication administration using smart infusion pumps.

Methods:

Observational study, conducted in four intensive care units using data from Hospira MedNetTM software. A descriptive analysis was carried out together with a bivariate analysis using a Mann-Whitney U test, a KruskalWallis test and a Bonferroni test to assess adherence and potential adverse events prevented by year and service.

Results:

Adherence was 74.0%, 78,299 safety alerts were presented and 4.54% (n = 16,288) potential adverse events were prevented. Differences were found between the first and second year in adherence [Median: 69.15 (Q1: 64.2-Q3:75.5) versus Median: 84.2 (Q1: 72.15-Q3: 89.05), p<0.001]. Likewise safety adherence [Median: 87.1% (Q1: 83.05-Q3: 91.2) versus Median: 94.05 (Q1: 89.95-Q3: 96.2), p<0.001] and the relative limit alert editions [Median: 17.0 (Q1: 8.5-Q3: 24.5) versus Median: 12.0 (Q1: 7.0-Q3: 17.5), p=0.013]. The saline solution, norepinephrine, ringer’s lactate, piperacillin-tazobactam, nitroglycerin and heparin presented the highest number of safety alerts.

Conclusions:

Adequate adherence (use of the drug library) and safety adherence (indicator of pump use) were found, with a reduction in potential adverse events; thus, the use of smart pumps could contribute to the prevention of potential errors during the administration of intravenous medications in the intensive care unit.