SURE SHOT Our survey found that prefilled syringes can both save money and make compliance easier for facilities.
When does it make the most sense to buy prefilled syringes? Some say if you administer a drug 10 times or more a day, you’ll save considerable time not having to draw it up, label it and put it on the field. Others say if you’re always throwing away some medication that didn’t make it into the syringe you just drew up, you’ll actually spend less per cc if you go prefilled. Then there are those who say you should go prefilled if the compounding pharmacy’s beyond-use date (BUD) for a refrigerated item is significantly longer than the manufacturer’s expiration date. Whatever the reason, this much is certain: Prefilled syringes can play a key role in surgery.
About 9 months ago, the head of anesthesia at Lakeside Ambulatory Surgery Center in Omaha, Neb., asked pharmacy coordinator Louise Bergeron, RN, BSN, MS, if they could look into using prefilled syringes for certain medications. Since then, Lakeside has been using prefilled neostigmine, ephedrine, glycopyrrolate, succinylcholine and phenylephrine daily. And they’re very happy about the decision.
