Drug utilization study in intensive cardiac care unit of tertiary care hospital

Patients admitted in Intensive Cardiac Care unit (ICCU) are critically ill cardiac patients. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the main cause of mortality globally and are the leading cause of death in India also. The Intensive Cardiac Care unit is routinely equipped with a system that permits continuous monitoring of the cardiac rhythm of each patient and hemodynamic monitoring in selected patients. The various drugs used in ICCU and there clinical outcome was investigated in this study.Materials and Methods: Patients admitted between January 2017 – June 2018 in Medicine Intensive cardiac care unit were included in this study.Results: Total of 359 prescriptions was analyzed from the Intensive cardiac care unit. Out of 359 patients, 228 (63.51%) were male, while 131 (36.49%) were female. The mean age of the patients admitted in ICCU was 55.68 +13.54 years. The most common type of patients admitted in ICCU have the diagnosis of Acute myocardial infarction (77.16%), followed by Ischemic heart disease (8.36%), Cardiogenic shock (4.18%), Left Bundle Branch Block (3.62%), Rheumatic heart disease (2.79%) and Supraventricular tachycardia (2.23%). The most common drugs prescribed in ICCU were Aspirin, Clopidegrol and Atorvastatin. Other drugs most commonly used are Metoprolol (95.82%), Ramipril (92.48%), Isosorbitedinitrate (86.07%), Ranitidine (83.29%).Conclusion: In conclusion, after analyzing the prescriptions we found that the drugs used in ICCU like anti-platelets (clopidogrel and aspirin), anti-coagulants (LMWH), statins (atorvastatin) and nitrates (Isosorbidedinitrate) were in large quantities. This finding correlates with the standard recommended guidelines for cardiovascular emergencies. The present study provides valuable insight about the overall pattern of drugs used in intensive cardiac care unit.Keywords: Drug utilization study, Intensive cardiac care unit, Anti-platelets.