Clinical Pharmacology & Biopharmaceutics
Open Access

Abstract

In clinical practice, drug-drug interactions can represent serious problems and the large number of Potential Drug-Drug Interactions (PDDI) found in medication profiles of ICU is notorious. This research aimed to profile risk regarding the existence of potential drug-drug interactions in intensive care patientsâ�� medication orders. It was a cross-sectional, observational study, conducted from January to December of 2011, based on medication profiles collection and assessment of an adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in a University Hospital of the Brazilian public health system, quantifying and classifying potential drug interactions using MicromedexTM database. Tree-hundred and sixty nine patients admitted in ICU for more than 24 hours; being 18 years or older that have valid prescription orders with 2 or more drugs were included in this study. Two hundred and five different types of drugs were prescribed, with an average of 13.04�±4.26 per medication profile. Amongst evaluated prescriptions, 89% had Potential Drug- Drug Interactions (PDDI), resulting in an average of 5.00�±5.06 drug-drug interactions per medication order. The 405 types of PDDI observed in prescriptions were classified, highlighting the prevalence of moderate and major interactions, present in 74% and 67% of prescriptions, respectively. Statistically significant correlation between the number of PDDI, length of stay in ICU and the number of prescribed drugs was also observed. The obtained results bring information about the clinically relevant potential interactionâ��s profile in intensive care, which is an important effort contributing to its adequate management.

Biography

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