Comparison of the Safety of Various Hazardous Injection Drug Preparation Methods Used by Pharmacy Students

The increased risk of occupational exposure to hazardous drugs in medical professionals has recently been regarded as an issue to address. Although some previous studies examined safer preparation methods, the number of those involving unskilled professionals, such as pharmacy students, has been limited. The present study compared the safety of three different preparation methods used by pharmacy students. The level of exposure to sodium fluorescein (used as an indicator of exposure) and preparation time were measured when following three methods prepared by the pharmacy students: conventional (syringe method); preparation using the closed system drug transfer device; PhaSealTM (PhaSealTM method); and that using a solution with an injection needle attached (OTSUKA NORMAL SALINE 2-PORTTM; 2-PORTTM method). The mean scattering levels of sodium fluorescein when using the syringe, PhaSealTM, and 2-PORTTM methods were 0.390, 0.013 and 1.744 μg/mL, respectively; the 2-PORTTM method showed a significantly higher value, indicating that this method is inappropriate for hazardous drug preparation, as it increases the risk of exposure, while shortening the preparation time and making the procedure simpler. The risk of exposure was present when using any of the three methods, which may have been associated with the pitfalls that novices tend to face in each case. Based on these results, the use of safer preparation methods and accurate recognition of the pitfalls related to the preparation procedures among supervisors may be important in medical services.