Pediatr Crit Care Me
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · May 2016
Multicenter StudyEpidemiology of Polypharmacy and Potential Drug-Drug Interactions Among Pediatric Patients in ICUs of U.S. Children's Hospitals.
Polypharmacy is common in hospitalized children in the United States and has been identified as a major risk factor for exposure to potential drug-drug interactions. Little is known about the characteristics and prevalence of exposure of pediatric patients to polypharmacy and potential drug-drug interactions in PICUs. ⋯ Many PICU patients are exposed to substantial polypharmacy and potential drug-drug interactions. Future research should identify the risk of adverse drug events following specific potential drug-drug interaction exposures, especially the risk of adverse drug events due to multiple potential drug-drug interaction exposures, and determine the probability and magnitude of the actual harm (if any) for each specific potential drug-drug interaction, especially for multiple potential drug-drug interaction exposures.