The Role of Infusion Pumps in Preventing the Over-Administration of Intravenous Fluid in Pediatric Dental Surgeries

In the perioperative setting, IV fluids are administered to mitigate the effects of preoperative fasting and sources of fluid loss that are unique to surgical intervention. Significant harms have been associated with the over-administration of IV fluid in pediatric patients. Infusion pumps have been shown to reduce medication administration errors in inpatients receiving continuous IV infusions. In contrast, laboratory experiments have demonstrated that gravity driven fluid delivery systems are influenced by numerous extrinsic factors. To date, no work has investigated the perioperative incidence of IV fluid over-administration in pediatric patients randomized either to infusion pumps (intervention) or gravity-fed IV systems (control).