Mixtures of infusion solutions with IV-drugs are common practice in the clinical routine.
They serve the purpose to dilute concentrated, small-scale pharmaceutical preparations in such a way that veins can tolerate them and that they can be given accurately over a longer period. Or they serve the purpose that ongoing infusions can be used as i.v. inlet and as a carrier for the injection of the drug.

The physico-chemical compatibility, as well as the content of active ingredient in mixtures allows only limited conclusions about the influence on the pharmacology of the applied drug.

Resulting incompatibilities, pharmacological changes such as reduced effects, potentiating effects, side effects can only be determined with great effort and detailed knowledge from the respective manufacturer of the drug.

Hence it is adviced to minimize the risk of incompatibility in general. The following rules should be applied when mixing infusions with IV-drugs:

• Only use simple carbohydrate or electrolyte solutions as a carrier solution.
  Solutions for parenteral nutrition, such as amino acids, lipid emulsions, colloidal solutions as
  volume replacement, or solutions with extreme pH values, such as sodium hydrogen carbonate
  are unsuitable.
• Only add one drug per carrier solution.
• Only run one drug per unit time through line / catheter. Possibly flush the line with saline solution before adding the next drug.