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The Curious Bag
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If you've ever visited a family member in the intensive care unit (ICU) who has a number of intravenous (IV) lines, chances are you've seen a dopamine drip that delivers diluted dopamine directly into the large central veins of the body.
Purpose
Dopamine affects various receptors in blood vessels that supply the heart, brain and kidneys. Its effect varies depending on the dose of dopamine given, but the end goal is to improve blood flow to vital organs.
Functions
A dopamine drip may be prescribed to keep a patient's blood pressure from dropping too low, to increase cardiac output (the amount of blood pumped out with each contraction), and increase blood flow to the kidneys when a person is in shock.
Conditions
Dopamine drips are an integral part of the clinical care of many patients with shock symptoms following a heart attack, open heart surgery, bloodstream infection, congestive heart failure, or kidney failure.
Considerations
The physician will write orders for the ICU nurses to titrate, or adjust, the dopamine drip rate in response to changes in the patient's blood pressure, heart rate, urine output, and other physiology parameters.
Warning
The response to a dopamine drip isn't always predictable, so nurses will monitor the patient to make sure the drug doesn't lower blood pressure too much.
Source:
Global RPh: Vasopressors and Inotropes
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