What is a Vial Mate Adapter & How to Use One (Instructions)

In the medical world, it’s often necessary for drugs and fluids to be mixed together, but it’s important for this to be done in the safest way possible to reduce the risk of any contamination. Vial Mate adapters help with this. Let’s take a look at what they are and how they work.

What Is a Vial Mate Adapter?

A Vial Mate adapter is a small piece of medical equipment that consists of a white gripper section which locks onto 20mm drug vials, along with a white adapter section which can connect to Viaflex bags and containers.

What Is a Vial Mate Adapter Used For?

Vial Mate adapters are used for sterile transfer and mixing of drugs in vials. They can be connected to a vial at one end and a Viaflex bag at the other, allowing the fluid in the bag to mix with a powder or solution in the vial in a sterile and safe way.

How to Use a Vial Mate Adapter

So, we’ve seen what Vial Mate adapters are and what they’re used for. Now, let’s take a look at a step-by-step procedure of how to use them.

Step 1 – Attach the Adapter to the Vial

The first step of the process is to attach the Vial Mate adapter to the vial. To do this, first put the vial down on a flat surface, and hold the Vial Mate adapter above it. Push the vial gripper down firmly onto the vial until it snaps into place. You do not need to twist the gripper or the vial, and remember that Vial Mate adapters only work with single dose drug vials with 20mm closures. So, if your adapter doesn’t seem to fit, it could be that the vial is the wrong size.

Step 2 – Remove the Seal

Once the vial is locked in position with the adapter, you can remove the foil seal at the top end of the Vial Mate adapter. Be sure to use aseptic technique during this process, as the area underneath the foil seal is sterile and should remain so during the rest of the procedure.

Step 3 – Attach the Viaflex Container

Next, you need to attach the Viaflex container or bag to the top of the Vial Mate adapter. First, disinfect the medication port at the base of the bag, and then grip onto the adapter in the blue area underneath the flange collar. Next, push the medication port straight down into the adapter until the flange collar connects with the bottom of the bag.

Step 4 – Activate

Hold onto the white gripper section of the Vial Mate adapter and the blue port adapter part and twist them until the ribs align, before pushing the blue section down into the white gripper. You can then squeeze the bag to push the fluids into the vial. Keep squeezing until the vial is completely full, and then shake the vial to let the powder fully dissolve.

Step 5 – Return the Fluids to the Bag

Next, invert the bag and hold the vial above it. Squeeze the bag repeatedly until all the fluid has left the vial and entered the bag. Pull the blue port adapter back out from the white gripper of the Vial Mate and twist it so that the ridges are no longer aligned. You will then have a Viaflex bag filled with the new mixed solution, ready to be infused.