• C Santibáñez, J Roque, G Morales, and R Corrales.
• Rev Chil Pediatr. 2014 Oct 1; 85 (5): 546-53.

IntroductionThe aim of this study is to calculate the theoretical frequency of potential drug interactions (PDI) and their characteristics in the therapeutic plan of hospitalized patients in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).Patients And MethodsAn observational study was conducted which analyzed PICU prescriptions between September and November 2011. The inclusion criteria included to be hospitalized in a PICU, requirements of at least 3 drugs, except those topically applied, either gender, no age limit, no hospital stay required. The Micromedex® 2.0 program was used to detect and classify PDI.ResultsOf 223 patients, 100 met inclusion criteria, 610 prescriptions were analyzed and 815 drugs were prescribed. 1,240 PDI were detected in 44 patients; 12 patients received more than 10 drugs each, presenting 1,162 PDI (93.7% of total PDI). 8 patients were hospitalized for more than 10 days, presenting 1,035 PDI (83.5% of total PDI). According to PDI theoretical severity, 37.5% were high, 51.7% moderate, 6.7% low and 4.1% contraindicated. The therapeutic group most involved was antimicrobials (17.6%) and the most frequently involved individual drugs were chloral hydrate (15.9%), midazolam (14.1%) and vecuronium (13.4%).ConclusionPDI were more frequent in patients associated with major polypharmacy and longer hospital stay.

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