'Double Whamm' and 'Triple Whamm' combinations in hospitalized surgical patients - real life data from a tertiary teaching hospital.

Abstract

The 'Triple-Whamm'-combination (TW) of renin-angiotensin-aldosteron-system-inhibitors (RAASI), diuretics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) can cause acute kidney injury (AKI), especially with additional risk factors like chronic kidney disease (CKD) or surgery. Thus, patients on 'Double-Whammy'-combination (DW) of RAASI and diuretics should receive postoperative NSAID only following risk-benefit-evaluation. Currently, there are no data how often surgical patients take DW/TW at admission and postoperatively. The objective of this study was to firstly assess the prevalence of DW/TW-patients, secondly, to evaluate postoperative NSAID use in DW-patients and possible effects on renal function (RF). In a seven-month retrospective study, the pre-hospital medication of patients admitted to surgical wards of a tertiary teaching hospital was screened for intake of TW-drugs and renal impairment (RI; eGFR <60 ml/min/1.73 m 2 ), respectively. For patients admitted with a DW-combination of RAASI and diuretic and undergoing surgery, postoperative NSAID use was recorded and checked against internal guidelines for postoperative pain management recommending as first line NSAID therapy ibuprofen in bone surgery and novaminsulfone in visceral surgery. If NSAID were taken, RF was followed for five days. Of 2007 patients, 343 (17.1%) presented with DW in pre-hospital medication and 28 (1.4%) with TW, which 19/28 (67.9%) took only on demand. Upon admission, RI was present in 113 (32.9%) DW-patients and 9 (33.3%) TW-patients. 227/343 (66.2%) DW-patients underwent surgery and 34/227 (15.0%) were prescribed postoperative NSAID. 24/227 (10.6%) actually received NSAID and 4/24 (16.7%) had a decrease of RF with one showing AKI. In our hospitalized surgical patients, TW-combination in pre-hospital medication was rare. The intake of DW-combination was common but only a small number actually received NSAID after surgery. When a TW-combination was given postoperatively, renal function decreased in every sixth patient. Thus, the absolute number of AKI following a TW-combination was small, however, the individual risk for TW-caused AKI should be considered when choosing postoperative pain management. Guidelines for postoperative NSAID use should consider the patient individual risk factors for AKI, thereby increasing drug safety.