Infusion outpatient clinic
Prof. Dr. med. C. Trebst and Prof. Dr. med. T. Skripuletz
Modern, highly effective drugs often have to be administered intravenously under medical supervision. Such therapeutic applications can be carried out in the Infusion Outpatient Clinic of the Department of Neurology, thus avoiding inpatient hospital stays.
In particular, patients with inflammatory neurological diseases (e.g. chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN), multiple sclerosis, myositis, myasthenia gravis) are treated in the infusion outpatient clinic. In addition, regular enzyme replacement therapies are carried out for rare genetic diseases.
Treatment in the infusion outpatient clinic comprises three treatment steps.
- The first step is to check whether treatment is indicated. The preliminary examination includes an interview about the disease and a physical examination, a blood sample (in particular to rule out contraindications) and an explanation of the medication.
- On the day of the planned infusion, another interview and examination is carried out to rule out contraindications (especially infections). The therapy is then administered in the form of an infusion. The duration of the infusion is based on the recommendations in the specialist information for the respective medication. The infusion is followed by a 30-60 minute monitoring phase. If the patient tolerates the drug well, a follow-up appointment for the next infusion will be arranged.
- Check-ups are planned between the infusion appointments in order to check the effectiveness of the medication on the one hand and to be able to quickly identify possible side effects of the medication on the other. After each infusion, the patient is therefore advised to check for possible side effects and to report them immediately if they occur. Depending on the medication, blood tests are also necessary, which should be carried out by the family physician.