THE THERAPEUTICS OF THE INTRAVENOUS DRIP

Abstract

"The rapid intravenous introduction of pharmacologically active or inert chemicals, drugs and biologic fluids may frequently give rise to immediate and far-reaching nonspecific sequelae, at times serious and occasionally fatal."¹This syndrome ("speed shock") includes circulatory and respiratory symptoms, together with alterations in the blood. The reaction is immediate and may include or closely simulate such apparently unrelated phenomena as the anaphylactoid reaction,²nitritoid and hemoclastic crises, post-transfusion reactions,³peptone shock, and the sudden death that has been described following intravenous injections.⁴ These untoward reactions may be avoided by the slow continuous "intravenous drip."⁵The clinical application of this principle is by no means new and has been emphasized by many clinicians.⁶ We have already described a convenient apparatus for the practical clinical application of the intravenous drip.⁷A central room for the preparation of these intravenous sets was established at the Mount