Development of a Computer System for Supporting Intravenous Hyperalimentation (IVH) Preparation Procedures

A computer system was developed to improve the preparation procedures of intravenous hyperalimentation (IVH) for patients with such affections as acute renal failure and short-bowel syndrome, and its utility was evaluated with the novel indices: compatibility of prescription (C), ease of IVH preparation (E), design time of prescription (t), and objective index (C*E/t). The computer system was developed using the d-Base III programming software. The mixing volume of elemental solutions were either calculated with this computer system or hand calculated depending on the kind of IVH prescription. The mixing volumes of each component could be easily and quickly determined and the prescriptions satisfactorily prepared. While in the novel indices, the compatibility and ease of preparation were slightly improved, the design time was markedly shortened and the objective index was markedly improved using the computer system compared with the hand calculation. When this program was used to educate new pharmacists, the key points of IVH preparations were more rapidly understood. These results indicate that our computer system was very useful to the preparation of specific IVH prescriptions for severe patients, was also very effective in the education of IVH preparations to new pharmacists, and that the novel indices were more useful in evaluating the IVH preparation procedures.