What is a Buretrol

A bit of trivia and nursing history for you young-uns.

In the early 80's IV therapy was much different than it is today. All of our IV solutions were in glass bottles. Drips or antibiotics, even chemo were mixed by the nurse and administered by the nurse, often with an added device called a buretrol. We didn't have IV pumps and had to count the drops. No joke! Im not gonna lie. It was really hard.

There were different sets of IV tubing. One was a micro drip with 60 drops per cc and the other a macro drip with either 12 or 15 drops per cc depending on the manufacturer. I would stand looking at the chamber with my watch held next to it and count the drops and then adjust either faster or slower depending on the speed at which the solution or med was ordered. Many medications could cause serious complications and even death if administered too quickly so the adjustment of the drip rate was crucial.

The buretrol is a plastic container that holds up to 150 cc of fluid with markings on the side to measure the amount. You first put the right amount of fluid from the main IV bottle intoto the buretrol by squeezing the plastic tube making sure that the tubing to the bottle is vented as without it you get a vacuum. We then add the medication that is ordered. The buretrol is connected via the IV tubing on one side to the glass bottle and on the other to tubing going to the patient's vein. Clamping the tubing above the buretrol assures that the medication is not further diluted and will be dispensed in the correct concentration. Gravity and counting the drops did the rest. There was no technology involved.

We used white tape on the sides of the glass bottles to see how much fluid remained for the purposes of a "not so accurate" intake and output. An hour before change of shift we had to check the amount left on each IV and calculate the I and O for our shift. Warning! This was not an exact science.

Buretrols are still used today on occasions where you need close control to prevent fluid overload especially in pediatric and neonatal intensive care areas. It may not be high tech but it adds a layer of safety because we all know even the best equipment can fail whether on it's own, or with a little help from the humans.