Blog Post

Injecting fluids through a hollow needle into the body is a surprisingly old practice. Attempts at it go back as far as the late 1490s, but those first efforts at intravenous (IV) therapy were not successful. 

The process has gone through many changes over the centuries — including Dr. Thomas Latta’s successful use during the cholera epidemic of 1831-32. Today, IV infusion therapy is a safe, practical method for a number of medical applications. 

If you live in the Houston or Spring, Texas, area and you need IV therapy, our team at Houston Medical ER can help. Let’s look at the benefits of this procedure by exploring how it works and the advantages of using IV therapy.

Understanding IV infusions

Medical professionals use IV infusions to deliver medications, vitamins, blood, saline, or other fluids directly into your bloodstream. We insert a needle attached to a cannula (a thin tube) directly into your vein, and we connect the cannula to a larger tube, which is hooked to a bag of the appropriate fluid.

Intravenous is just one type of infusion therapy, which also includes:

• Epidural, placed around the nerves of your spine and often used for pain relief
• Intramuscular, inserted directly into muscular tissue and used for hormone therapy, antibiotics, vaccines, and antibodies for helping your immune system
• Subcutaneous, injected into the fat areas just below the skin to treat diabetes, administer allergy medications, provide pain relief, and treat blood clots

Advantages of getting IV infusion therapy

Here are some reasons IV infusion is a beneficial treatment option:

For people who can’t take oral medications

If you’re not having any luck with oral medications or can’t take them because of trouble swallowing or other issues, an IV places the medicine right into your bloodstream.

Swift results

Because medicine doesn’t have to go through your digestive tract to reach your circulatory system, IVs are ideal for getting you medicine as quickly as possible. This is essential in emergency situations, during childbirth, or when managing allergic reactions.

High success rate

Many conditions benefit from the speedy delivery of medicine to increase overall effectiveness. Epidurals are highly effective in easing pain during delivery (around 99%), monoclonal antibody infusions for COVID-19 reduce infection by half, and certain cancers are highly responsive to chemotherapy IVs.

Better control of dosage

Not only can we get you medications faster with infusion therapy, but it gives us more precision in how much we give you, making treatment as effective as possible.

Infusions are an integral part of medical treatment, and if you’re considering getting one, make an appointment with our team at Houston Medical ER today. We have two locations, in Houston and Spring, Texas.