Preface

This 1997 edition marks the twenty- fourth year of publication of Intravenous Medications.

Annual revisions meet the tremendous need for clear, concise, complete, and accurate information on newly released and existing IV drugs. This has been a huge year for new IV drug approvals by the FDA. Sixteen new drugs are included (two are available only in Canada and the United Kingdom, and one is a new formulation of an old product [warfarin] with a newly approved FDA indication.) In addition, there are many important updates, such as changes in dose, additional disease-specific doses, refinements in dosing applications, new indications, new drug interactions, additional pre- cautions, and new information in anti- dotes. In some of the monographs, you’ll find new, helpful charts for dilution and/or rate of administration. In the Appendix of this User’s Guide, you’ll find a key to abbreviations. In the “Introduction” section (found under the menu item “Drugs”), the Important

IV Therapy Facts are grouped to help identify the information you want quickly.

Health care today is an intense envi- ronment. The speed of change is over- whelming, but the authors and publisher of Intravenous Medications have a commitment to provide all health professionals who have the responsibility to administer IV medications with complete, accurate, current information in a clear, concise, acces- sible, and reliable tool. Each specific drug must be able to be interpreted for a specific patient. All drugs currently approved for intravenous use (with the exception of opaque dyes used in radi- ology, some general anesthetics used only in OR, and a few rarely used drugs [see Appendix B] are included. In addition, all information has been thoroughly revised to incorporate the most current documented knowledge available.

Intravenous Medications is designed for use in critical care areas, as the nursing station, in the office, in public

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