How you physically handle the equipment and how the infusion feels at the injection site can influence which method is easier for you to live with.
Hand Strength and Dexterity
Manual push requires you to keep depressing the syringe plunger at an appropriate rate for the duration of the infusion.
“Those who have any strength or dexterity problems would have problems with the manual push, given that the push is over 10 to 15 minutes,” says Ehret. Maintaining that pressure at the correct speed for the full infusion can be difficult for some people, she says.
A pump still involves hands-on tasks such as preparing the medication, connecting tubing, and placing the needle, so dexterity matters with either method. If you have limited hand strength or dexterity, some parts of self-infusion may be difficult, and you may benefit from adaptive equipment or help from a caregiver.
Once a pump infusion begins, however, the device takes over the continuous delivery of the medication.
Local Site Comfort and Control
Redness, swelling, and sometimes bruising around an infusion site are among the most common problems with SCIg, says Raveendran. If discomfort becomes an issue, she recommends bringing it to your care team; pretreatment with an antihistamine or acetaminophen (Tylenol) may make infusions easier to tolerate.
The two delivery methods also give you different kinds of control over the infusion. With manual push, you control the syringe yourself, so you can immediately slow your push if an area starts to sting or feel uncomfortable. You can adjust the infusion rate according to your comfort and tolerability.
A pump delivers medication at a preset, steady rate. “The training nurse will assist in setting up the infusion rate,” Ehret says. If the rate is causing discomfort or other problems, she recommends working with the nurse on an adjustment rather than changing it yourself.
Neither approach consistently results in fewer local reactions; comparisons between manual push and pumps have produced mixed results.
Read the full article here
