Which statement about intraosseous (IO) access is most likely true?
IO access was developed in the 1920s, but Emanuel Papper was the first anesthesiologist to study IO kinetics. He demonstrated that IO drug administration was nearly identical in speed to the I.V. route of administration.
Pediatric and adult patients are both candidates to receive IO access. IO access is advocated as a reasonable alternative to I.V. access in pediatric advanced life support. The use of IO access is advocated by the 2010 AHA Guidelines in Adult Advanced Cardiopulmonary Life Support (ACLS) as the next best alternative if I.V. access is unavailable or proving difficult to establish.
According to the 2010 AHA ACLS guidelines, drug administration is more reliable when delivered via either I.V. or IO routes than via the tracheal tube route. Studies show that resuscitation drugs delivered via the trachea have lower peak plasma concentrations than when delivered via...