Abstract

POSTOPERATIVE PRESCRIPTION PATTERN IN PATIENTS ADMITTED IN GENERAL SURGERY WARDS IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL

Mohammad Tariq Salman, Rupinder Kaur, Narendra K. Gupta, Uma Gupta, MD Faiz Akram*

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Since postoperative prescription prescriptions constitute a part of drug therapy to patients undergoing surgery and studies are scare on this aspect, the present study was performed to study postoperative prescription pattern in patients admitted in general surgery ward in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Method: It was a prospective, observational, non interventional and analytical study on patients admitted in general surgery ward in Era’s Lucknow Medical College Hospital. One hundred and fiftyone patients were enrolled and demographic data, type of surgery and parameters of antibiotic therapy at the time of discharge (selection of antibiotic, dose, route and duration of therapy) were studied. Result: Third generation cephalosporins were the most commonly prescribed class of antibiotics. Unnecessarily, 2 to 3 antibiotics were prescribed postoperatively for upto 3-5 days at time of discharge. Most of the drugs were not prescribed by generic names. Majority of drugs were prescribed from National List of Essential Medicines (2011), India. Conclusion: The prescription pattern was not as per WHO guidelines for rational use of medicines. Guidelines for postoperative prescriptions need to be formulated in consultation with surgeons followed by training programs for prescribers.

Keywords: Rational use of medicines, antimicrobial agents, postoperative care, prescription audit, surgery.