Continuous Intravenous Milrinone Therapy in Pediatric Outpatients.
Michelle Curley, Jill Liebers, Roy Maynard
PMID 28248808WHAT IT FOUND
In 12 children receiving home IV milrinone, 50% were readmitted and 41.7% had catheter complications, but no central line bloodstream infections were confirmed.
Nurses checked pumps, catheters, and caregiver training.
Key findings
01Twelve pediatric patients received continuous outpatient milrinone therapy between 2008 and 2015.
02Fifty percent of patients required hospital readmission during therapy, and catheter-related complications occurred in 41.7% of patients.
03No outpatient central line-associated bloodstream infections were confirmed, and home infusion nurses visited 1 to 2 times per week for assessment and catheter dressing changes.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only 12 patients were studied, from a single home infusion service, so this is a small descriptive report rather than a test of milrinone against a comparison group. There was no control group or random assignment, so transplant, weaning, readmission, death, and complication rates cannot be attributed to milrinone alone. All patients had already tolerated IV milrinone as inpatients before discharge, so the report may not apply to children who cannot be stabilized in hospital. All patients received in-home nursing care, and some also received dopamine, defibrillator devices, surgery, or transplant, so the effect of milrinone alone cannot be separated. The report does not define a primary outcome or compare groups, so it cannot establish safety or efficacy.
Declared interests
The authors report no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the transplant and weaning outcomes as proof that home milrinone works. The study had no comparison group, included only 12 patients, and all patients received in-home nursing care. Some also received dopamine, defibrillator devices, surgery, or transplant, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.