While most medications are ingested orally, some patients are so severely ill that an alternative form of medicinal delivery is required.
Infusion therapy, or the administration of medication through a needle or catheter, is generally given to patients who cannot be effectively treated with oral medication due to the seriousness of their condition. The most common form of infusion therapy is intravenous delivery into the bloodstream, but practices such as epidurals or intramuscular injections also serve as alternate forms of infusion delivery.
Infusion therapy is commonly used for infections that don’t respond to oral antibiotics as well as cancer, cancer-related pain and complications, dehydration, and gastrointestinal diseases and disorders, among others. Other conditions in which infusion therapy might be used include congestive heart failure, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Located on the fourth floor of the Sandra Eskenazi Outpatient Care Center, Eskenazi Health Infusion Center offers comprehensive treatment for patients requiring outpatient infusion therapy. Since the duration of infusion therapy varies from treatment to treatment, the Infusion Center provides private suites and a comfortable setting so patients can relax during treatment. Services are provided by specially trained and certified nurses.