Abstract

DRUG UTILIZATION EVALUATION OF ANALGESICS IN POSTOPERATIVE ORTHOPEDIC INPATIENTS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Pulloori Pooja, Pittala Sowjanya, Mekala Vandana and Dr. Maddela Satyakanth*

Abstract

Prescription of analgesics after surgery is an important criteria. Drug utilization evaluation is a system of ongoing, systematic, criteria-based evaluation of drug use that will help ensure that medicines are used appropriately (at the individual patient level). If the therapy is deemed to be inappropriate, interventions with providers or patients will be necessary to optimize drug therapy. DUE is required to check whether the drug usage is rational or not. This prospective observational study was done to evaluate the prescribing pattern of analgesics in postoperative patients. A total of 288 patients satisfied the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study. All of them were informed regarding the study and patient’s consents were taken. The required information was collected from the patient case sheet and the patient. Data regarding Analgesics prescribed for pain management post-operatively were recorded. The commonly prescribed post-operative analgesic in orthopedic department was ketorolac with 35.06%. About 28.12% patients used analgesics for RTA, followed by degenerative diseases (25.34). Along with analgesics Ceftriaxone (83.68) and Pantoprazole (63.88) were used concomitantly in most of the patients. DUE revealed drug interactions in the prescriptions which were severe drug- drug interactions (6.93%) and minor drug-drug interactions (17%). Pain management aims to effectively alleviate or eliminate pain with minimal adverse effects and as cheaply as possible. An adequate acute pain management reduces the frequency of certain complications (respiratory infections, urinary retention, and impaired motility of the gastrointestinal tract), reduces the cost of hospitalization and increases patient satisfaction with hospitalization.

Keywords: Analgesics, Drug utilization evaluation (DUE), Ketorolac, Ceftriaxone, Pantoprazole, Pain management.