Syringe driver

A patient of an intensive care unit in a hospital in Germany in 2015, with two staples of four syringe drivers each on the right behind him

Syringe drivers are useful for delivering intravenous (IV) therapies over several minutes. They infuse solutions at a constant rate.[1] In the case of a medication which should be slowly pushed in over the course of several minutes, this device saves staff time and reduces medical errors. It is useful for patients who cannot take medicines orally (such as those with difficulty swallowing), and for medications too harmful to be taken orally.[2]

Syringe drivers are particularly useful in palliative care, to continuously administer analgesics (painkillers), antiemetics (medication to suppress nausea and vomiting) and other drugs.[2] This prevents periods during which medication levels in the blood are too high or too low, and avoids the use of multiple tablets. As medication is administered subcutaneously, the area of administration is practically limitless, although edema may interfere with the action of some drugs.

Syringe pumps are useful in microfluidic applications, such as microreactor design and testing, and also in chemistry for slow incorporation of a fixed volume of fluid into a solution. In enzyme kinetics studies, syringe drivers can be used to observe rapid kinetics as part of a stopped flow apparatus.[3] They are also sometimes used as laboratory media dispensers.