Prescribing Pattern of Antimicrobial Agents in the Post-operative General Surgery Ward of a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital: A Prospective Observational Study | Chapter 15 | Technological Innovation in Pharmaceutical Research Vol. 8

 Background: This prospective observational study was done to know the current prescription trend of antimicrobial agents in the post-operative ward. To evaluate the current pattern of antimicrobial agents in the post-operative surgical cases of a tertiary care teaching hospital.

The goal of this study was to look at the antimicrobial resistance pattern of culture isolates in post-operative general surgery cases. To evaluate the case for switching from one antimicrobial agent to another.

Methods: From April 2013 to March 2014, the study was conducted in conjunction with the Departments of General Surgery and Pharmacology. In the carefully built case proforma, all factors such as demographic data, antimicrobials agents given by surgeons, dose, frequency, duration, route, formulation, brand or generic medications, and adverse events were collected. SPSS version 17.0 was used to perform descriptive statistics.

Results: During the study period, 513 patient case records were analysed in which males are higher than females. A total of 816 drugs were used in 484 patients during the study period. 162 were on a single drug, 190 were on two drugs, 42 were on three drugs and 90 were on fixed dose combination. Brand name of the drugs and parenteral route of administration were preferred in the study. Cephalosporins (52.32 percent ) and metronidazole (34.38 percent ) were the most commonly prescribed group of antimicrobials followed by penicillin (0.9 percent ), aminoglycosides (6.58 percent ), quinolones (5.23 percent ), macrolides (0.45 percent ) and tetracycline (0.14 percent ). In all, 135 patients (27.89%) received pharmaceuticals that were not on the WHO's essential medicine list, while 112 patients (23.14%) received drugs that were not on the national EML.

Conclusions: Third-generation cephalosporins were the most commonly administered antibacterial medication in the post-operative ward. Antibiotics should be prescribed rationally to avoid polypharmacy and medication resistance. To support the appropriate use of medications in surgery, there is a definite need for the development of prescribing guidelines and educational programmes. Our research will aid clinicians in their understanding of the essential medicine list.

Author (s) Details

Velvizhy Ramalingam
Department of Pharmacology, Aarupadai Veedu Medical and Hospital, Pondicherry, India.

J. Johan Pandian
Department of Pharmacology, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Pondicherry, India.

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