Welcome to the Syringe Driver Survey Database (SDSD)

The SDSD is a database of the visual appearance of drug combinations reported in the palliativedrugs.com prospective international multicentre survey and also from individual reporting. This data is categorised as ‘observational data’, and a description of ‘appeared compatible’ has been assigned if there was no obvious physical change in appearance of the combination in use, e.g. discoloration, clouding, or the precipitation of particles/crystals.

Use of the SDSD

Drug combinations can be searched for using the drop down menu or by browsing the index.

It is important to ascertain whether the compatibility data displayed are relevant to the situation of intended use:

• drug combinations may be compatible at certain concentrations but not at others, thus the concentration of each drug in the solution (the dose of each drug divided by the total final volume being used) should be compared not the dose
• different diluents and longer infusion periods may also cause compatibility problems and the diluent used and the duration of the infusion should also be compared
• other factors such as temperature (ambient or body temperature), light exposure, order of mixing and delivery system material may also affect drug compatibility and may also contribute to conflicting reports on compatibility.

Addition of further entries

We would like to encourage you to enter any unique drug combinations that you have used for which you have had little or no physical laboratory or chemical compatibility data, especially if you have experienced incompatibility. All entries will be viewed by palliativedrugs.com pharmacists before addition to the live database.

We aim to co-ordinate further surveys in the near future trying to capture data for alfentanil, morphine, oxycodone and hydromorphone combinations. If you would like to contribute to these please contact us.

Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to all the participants of the palliativedrugs.com prospective international multicentre survey. Without their help this resource would not have been possible.