ISOPP: 37th issue of the Virtual Journal Club (VJC) is available online!

March 30, 2017

This is notification that the thirty-seventh issue of the Virtual Journal Club (VJC) is available on the International Society of Oncology Pharmacy Practitioners (ISOPP) website. To access it, visit the Virtual Journal Club Surveys page or follow the direct link to the survey. 

This notification is being resent to include the summary below. The thirty-seventh issue of the Virtual Journal Club (VJC) is available on the International Society of Oncology Pharmacy Practitioners (ISOPP) website. To access it, visit the Virtual Journal Club Surveys page or follow the direct link to the survey. 
 
"Baxter elastomeric pumps: Weighing as an alternative to visual inspection"
Ellen L Cusano, Raafi Ali, Michael B Sawyer, Carole R Chambers and Patricia A Tang. 
J Oncol Pharm Pract published January 11, 2017. 
Baxter's elastomeric pumps have been shown to be a safer, more cost effective and patient preferred method to deliver continuous 5FU infusions compared to electronic volumetric pumps. They are, however, not reliably accurate and Baxter recommends visual inspection of the pumps to identify pump malfunction. This study looks at weighing the pump at 24 hours as an alternative and to review patient acceptability of this method. Weight of > 300g or < 100g raises alarm bells and requires review by health professionals. Would your patient prefer this method of inspection? Read this paper! 
Learning Objectives:
  1. Understand the advantages of using elastomeric chemo-therapy infusion pumps as opposed to electronic volumetric pumps;
  2. Understand the limitations of visual monitoring of elastomeric 5-FU pumps by patients and the need for having a validated weighing method for monitoring these pumps;
  3. Appreciate the real-world variability in the observed rate of infusion of 5-FU elastomeric pumps as compared to the expected rate and explore the factors contributing to this variability; and
  4. Gain an insight regarding patient preference between choosing visual inspection versus weight based monitoring especially as it relates to a patient's progress in their chemotherapy treatment.
 
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