VÃctor J Costela RuÃz
University of Granada, Spain
Title: Clinical security management in outpatients with non–Hodgkin lymphoma treated with subcutaneous rituximab
Biography
Biography: VÃctor J Costela RuÃz
Abstract
Non–Hodgkin´s lymphoma (NHL) is an increasing disease across the board. Intravenous rituximab was first approved as NHL treatment in 1997. Normally, rituximab intravenous infusion takes more than three hours, and the subcutaneous (SC) one takes only few minutes and allows patient´s stay at home. The objective is to show nurses how to manage adverse events in SC rituximab. Be means of literature collection from different clinical database (PubMed, MEDLINE, BioMed Central, Science, CINAHL) and with keywords: Non–Hodgkin lymphoma, treatment, rituximab, outpatient’s rituximab, nursing, adverse events rituximab; we have collected 17 papers related to this field. The SC administration of rituximab in Spain began in 2016. SC formulation is administrated as a second cycle (first one must be intravenous). The most adverse events of SC treatment are neutropenia (26%), febrile neutropenia (10%) and leukopenia (8%). Administration related reaction are those related to local skin reactions like erythema, pain, swelling, pruritis, rash, bruising and myalgia in puncture zone. In spite of adverse events and local reactions, home treatment plays an important role to improve patient´s quality of life and to avoid the consequences related to the patient’s hospitalization to get the drug infusion. Nurses play a primordial function in the SC rituximab administration, as much as the one played by the doctor. It is very important to detect possible complications in patients with this treatment as those are a group of outpatients that are in continuous contact with nursing staff. Possible complications are prematurely detected to let the doctors know and take the required measures.