American Medical Society for Sports Medicine
For Immediate Release May 10, 2017

Multidose Epinephrine Vials: A Life-Saving Solution

San Diego, CA – Andrea Pitts, MD presented a research abstract regarding multi-dose Epinephrine vials and their life-saving possibilities on Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at the 26th Annual Meeting of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine in San Diego, CA.

Dr. Andrea Pitts, a physician from Anderson, South Carolina, presented novel research on epinephrine, an important drug in management of life-threatening conditions ranging from cardiac arrest to severe allergic reactions.

Dr. Pitts and her research team investigated if multi-dose vials of epinephrine can maintain their effectiveness in various environmental conditions in her study, “Epinephrine: Is There a Cheaper but Equally Effective Alternative?”

“Epinephrine is a life-saving medication. That being said, the rising cost of an epinephrine auto-injector has been an issue for quite some time,” Dr. Pitts said. “Unfortunately, this high cost often precludes high schools from keeping them in stock due to budgetary constraints. “We wanted to find a more cost-effective way to ensure our athletes would have access to this medication if they ever needed it, which led to the multi-dose vial method. However the question remained, would this be an acceptable alternative? So we set out to find an answer.”

In their study, Dr. Pitts and her research team distributed multi-dose epinephrine vials to high school athletic trainers and team physicians across South Carolina to store in their sideline medical bags and use throughout an academic year. At the end of the school year, Dr. Pitts’ research team analyzed the contents of the used vials to determine the amount of active epinephrine compared to new, unused, temperature-controlled epinephrine vials.

They found that the tested multi-dose vials maintained 94-99% active epinephrine, demonstrating the drug can maintain its effectiveness when subjected to varying environmental stressors over a prolonged period of time. The results are an important finding for athletic trainers and team physicians who need to be ready to respond to an on-the-field emergency at a moments’ notice with only the tools in their sideline medical bag.

With more than 1,800 sports medicine physicians attending from throughout the United States and around the world, the 2017 Annual Meeting explores current decisions, controversies as well as best practices related to Medicine in Motion that defines the clinical practice of sports medicine.

About the AMSSM Annual Meeting: The conference features lectures and research addressing the most challenging topics in sports medicine today including overhead athlete care, military medicine, sports performance training, youth sports, professional athlete care, leg pain, mental health in athletes, current sports medicine topics and much more.

About the AMSSM: AMSSM is a multi-disciplinary organization of more than 3,300 sports medicine physicians dedicated to education, research, advocacy and the care of athletes of all ages. The majority of AMSSM members are primary care physicians with fellowship training and added qualification in sports medicine who then combine their practice of sports medicine with their primary specialty. AMSSM includes members who specialize solely in non-surgical sports medicine and serve as team physicians at the youth level, NCAA, NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, MLS and NHL, as well as with Olympic teams. By nature of their training and experience, sports medicine physicians are ideally suited to provide comprehensive medical care for athletes, sports teams or active individuals who are simply looking to maintain a healthy lifestyle. www.amssm.org