Dobutamine Therapy in the Home Care Setting
Dobutamine Therapy in the Home Care Setting
Your physician has ordered you to receive IV dobutamine (doe-beut-amine) in your home. Every patient has individual needs for dobutamine therapy; therefore, your course will be planned to meet your special needs. We will use a small pump that weighs about a pound to give your dobutamine. That pump is kept in a "fanny pack" that you can wear around your waist.
§ What is heart failure? Heart failure simply means that your heart’s pumping power is weaker than normal. This reduces the heart’s ability to pump blood out to meet the body’s demands.
§ What is dobutamine? Dobutamine is one of several medications used to strengthen the contractions of the heart muscle to pump blood to the body.
§ Will dobutamine cure my bad heart? No. Dobutamine is an assistive therapy used in conjunction with the many different oral medications you will continue to take each day. Dobutamine has been shown to improve quality of life but may not improve survival. Your home IV nurse will assess your response to the dobutamine therapy on each visit, but there are a few things you will need to know and do in his/her absence.
Call your physician if you experience the following side effects of dobutamine:
• Continuous or bothersome headache
• Continuous or bothersome nausea
• Chest pain (angina)
• Irregular heart beat or increased heart rate
• Increased blood pressure
• Dizziness or light-headedness when changing positions
Call your physician if you experience the following symptoms of "heart trouble":
• Increased shortness of breath
• Increased swelling of feet and/or legs (swelling does not resolve as it usually does)
• Weight gain of two pounds or more in 24 hours, or 4-5 pounds or more in a week
• Coughing
• Decreased urinary output (your home IV nurse will give you a chart to keep a record of your intake and output)
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