Abstract
Drug incompatibilities are relatively common in inpatients and this may result in increased morbidity/mortality as well as add to costs. The aim of this 12 month study was to identify real incidences of drug incompatibilities in intravenous lines in critically ill patients in two intensive care units (ICUs). A prospective cross sectional study of 82 patients in 2 ICUs, one medical and one surgical in a 1500-bed university hospital. One monitor carried out observations during busy hours with frequent drug administration. Patients included in both ICUs were those receiving at least two different intravenous drugs. 6.82% and 2.16% of drug pairs were found to be incompatible in the two ICUs respectively. Among the most frequent incompatible drugs found were insulin, ranitidine and furosemide. The study showed that a significant number of drug incompatibilities occur in both medical and surgical ICUs. It follows that the incidence of incompatibilities could be diminished by adhering to a few simple rules for medication administration, following by recommendations for multiple lumen catheter use. Future prospective studies should demonstrate the effect of applying these policies in practice.
Highlights
During the treatment of inpatients, medication errors and unintended side effects are two relatively common drug-related problems which may result in increasing morbidity / mortality as well as add to the cost of the therapy[1,2]
Only a limited number of physicians and pharmacists have concerned themselves with monitoring these problems in the Czech Republic, with even fewer doing so outside the hospital environment
For this study we focused on drug incompatibilities excluding both TPN and drugs not found in the database[13]
Summary
During the treatment of inpatients, medication errors and unintended side effects are two relatively common drug-related problems which may result in increasing morbidity / mortality as well as add to the cost of the therapy[1,2]. Medication errors have been identified as the main factor limiting the effectiveness and safety of pharmacotherapy[3]. The types and frequency of drug related problems, especially medication errors in preparation and administration, have dramatic implications for the overall quality of nursing care[4]. Only a limited number of physicians and pharmacists have concerned themselves with monitoring these problems in the Czech Republic, with even fewer doing so outside the hospital environment. Our study was conducted in the hospital environment of an ICU
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