Authors

1Virginia Cano Íñiguez, 1Elena Cano Íñiguez

Position

¹Enfermera

Contact address

Virginia Cano Iñiguez. Pza. Federico García Lorca, 1, 2º A. 23006 Jaén.

Contact email: anigivirnoca@hotmail.com

Abstract

Even though the importance of stability in thermolabile medications is a subject widely known by healthcare professionals, nowadays the problem has not lost its interest, and deficiencies have been notified over time, which have been occasionally very severe, both regarding the inadequate or careless way of storage and preservation, and the level of training for the staff responsible for the cold chain. In daily practice, there are many incidents that can breach the cold chain (electric failure, fridge breakdown, fridge door not well closed, fridge door being opened too many times, frozen medications because they have been placed up against the walls, accidental alteration of the thermostat, mistakes in storage), and their consequences on health have caused several demonstrated adverse effects, including local reactions, abscesses, syncopal episodes, etc., associated with an inadequate freezing. High economic costs have also been documented due to the need to replace medications because of a cold chain breach. Knowledge about the stability of thermolabile medications must become a matter of special interest for all healthcare professionals and, particularly, for Nursing professionals, because the control of medication maintenance is often assigned to them. The objective of this article is to offer a protocol regarding temperature control for thermolabile medication, which will contribute to guarantee the adequate preservation of thermosensitive medications.

Keywords:

Thermolabile medications; preservation; cold chain breach; temperature data recorderadverse effects

Versión en Español

Título:

El control de la temperatura de medicamentos termolábiles