Medication-use evaluation of caspofungin in intensive care units of Alzahra hospital, Isfahan, Iran, in year 2015

Abstract

Background: Medication-use evaluation (MUEs) is analyzing the drug usage pattern in a treatment center and comparing it to the standards. Therefore, medication-use evaluation studies are considered to be effective and useful. Caspofungin is the first of a new class of antifungals, the echinocandins. It is used for treatment of resistant fungal infections like invasive aspergillosis, candidiasis, and empiric antifungal therapy in neutropenic fever. This study aimed to assess the pattern of the consumption of caspofungin in patients hospitalized in an intensive care unit in Isfahan, Iran in 2015, and to compare the results with the standard amounts in literature. Methods: This was a descriptive and cross-sectional (retrospective) study conducted in Alzahra hospital, Isfahan, Iran, based on the files of the patients hospitalized in the intensive care units in a six-month period in year 2015. 49 patients hospitalized in the intensive care units in this time period, had received caspofungin. The information was gathered by reviewing the patients’ medical records. Due to the specific objectives of the study, the extracted information was compared to the defined standards to be presented as percentages. Findings: The most frequent uses of this drug was for treatment of pneumonia (38.8), sepsis (32.7), peritonitis (20.4), and fever and neutropenia (1.8). The duration of treatment differed from 1 to 56 days. The administered dose of the drug was similar to the model in 92 of the cases. Decreased hemoglobin and hematocrit were the most frequent recorded drug side effects (73.4). Conclusion: The cases of drug administration was similar to the standard model; but the dosage had a considerable difference, and the duration of use was significantly longer than the standard model. © 2018, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences(IUMS). All rights reserved.