Editing Intravenous therapy (section)

===Infusion===
An infusion of medication may be used when it is desirable to have a constant blood concentration of a medication over time, such as with some antibiotics including beta-lactams.<ref name=Dhaese /> Continuous infusions, where the next infusion is begun immediately following the completion of the prior, may also be used to limit variation in drug concentration in the blood (i.e. between the peak drug levels and the trough drug levels).<ref name=Dhaese>{{cite journal |last1=Dhaese |first1=Sofie |last2=Heffernan |first2=Aaron |last3=Liu |first3=David |last4=Abdul-Aziz |first4=Mohd Hafiz |last5=Stove |first5=Veronique |last6=Tam |first6=Vincent H. |last7=Lipman |first7=Jeffrey |last8=Roberts |first8=Jason A. |last9=De Waele |first9=Jan J. |title=Prolonged Versus Intermittent Infusion of β-Lactam Antibiotics: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression of Bacterial Killing in Preclinical Infection Models |journal=Clinical Pharmacokinetics |date=25 July 2020 |volume=59 |issue=10 |pages=1237–1250 |doi=10.1007/s40262-020-00919-6|pmid=32710435 |s2cid=220732187 }}</ref> They may also be used instead of intermittent bolus injections for the same reason, such as with [[furosemide]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chan |first1=Jeffrey Shi Kai |last2=Kot |first2=Thompson KA Ming |last3=Ng |first3=Marcus |last4=Harky |first4=Amer |title=Continuous Infusion Versus Intermittent Boluses of Furosemide in Acute Heart Failure: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis |journal=Journal of Cardiac Failure |date=November 2019 |volume=26 |issue=9 |pages=786–793 |doi=10.1016/j.cardfail.2019.11.013|pmid=31730917 |s2cid=208063606 }}</ref> Infusions can also be intermittent, in which case the medication is administered over a period of time, then stopped, and this is later repeated. Intermittent infusion may be used when there are concerns about the stability of medicine in solution for long periods of time (as is common with continuous infusions), or to enable the administration of medicines which would be incompatible if administered at the same time in the same IV line, for example vancomycin.<ref name=EJDMP2018>{{cite journal |last1=Elbarbry |first1=Fawzy |title=Vancomycin Dosing and Monitoring: Critical Evaluation of the Current Practice |journal=European Journal of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics |date=June 2018 |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=259–268 |doi=10.1007/s13318-017-0456-4|pmid=29260505 |s2cid=13071392 }}</ref>

Failure to properly calculate and administer an infusion can result in adverse effects, termed infusion reactions. For this reason, many medications have a maximum recommended infusion rate, such as [[vancomycin]]<ref name=EJDMP2018 /> and many [[monoclonal antibodies]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bylsma |first1=Lauren C. |last2=Dean |first2=Rebecca |last3=Lowe |first3=Kimberly |last4=Sangaré |first4=Laura |last5=Alexander |first5=Dominik D. |last6=Fryzek |first6=Jon P. |title=The incidence of infusion reactions associated with monoclonal antibody drugs targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor in metastatic colorectal cancer patients: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis of patient and study characteristics |journal=Cancer Medicine |date=September 2019 |volume=8 |issue=12 |pages=5800–5809 |doi=10.1002/cam4.2413|pmid=31376243 |pmc=6745824 |doi-access=free }}</ref> These infusion reactions can be severe, such as in the case of vancomycin, where the reaction is termed "red man syndrome".<ref name=EJDMP2018 />