ASSESSMENT OF PREVALENCE OF POTENTIAL DRUG􀇧DRUG INTERACTIONS IN MEDICAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT OF A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN INDIA

Background: Critically ill-patients frequently receive multidrug regimens (polypharmacy) with the goal of providing the superlativepharmacotherapeutic support. Drug-drug interaction (DDI) is a specific type of adverse event, which develops due to multiple regimen therapy, andthat may lead to significant hospitalization and death.Methods: A retrospective study was conducted for a period of 3 months to assess the prevalence potential DDIs in medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU)patients of a north Indian tertiary care hospital using Lexi Comp drug interact android mobile application.Results: A total of 72 patients were identified for this study. 65.27% (47) were males, and 34.72% (25) were females. The average age of the studypopulation was 52 years, and average length of stay in hospital was found to be 7 days. An average of 17.09 drugs per patient was administered to thepatients during the study period. 90.02% (65) of patients experienced at least one potential DDI. A total of 222 interactions observed during the studyperiod with an occurrence rate of 3.08 DDI per patient. There were 106 types drug pairs was found to get interacted at least 1 time. Corticosteroids,anticonvulsants, central nervous system depressants, sympathomimetics and quinolone antibiotics are the main class of drugs mostly interacted inMICU.Conclusion: The study shows that, concomitant administration rate of potentially interacting drugs are very high in MICU. We suggest that, specialsafety measures must be followed by physicians, pharmacists, and nurses to prevent and monitor DDIs in all departments of the hospital especially inintensive care departments. Health providers must be able to identify and classify drug interactions (DIs), and know how to manage them clinically,that is, how to minimize or more over prevent them. Practice of a computer assisted DI checker before prescribing/administering of the drugs canavoid DDIs. In settings with multiple drug use like in ICUs, attendance of a pharmacist or clinical pharmacist, taking the responsibility for monitoringDIs and notifying the physician about potential problems could decrease the harm inpatient and ensure the patient safety.Keywords: Drug interaction, Intensive care, Patient safety, Rational therapy