Effects of Pharmacist Intervention on the Utilization of Vancomycin in a Teaching Hospital

In order to investigate the effect of pharmacist intervention on vancomycin use, this study was performed on all patients receiving vancomycin in the intensive care unit (ICU) and hematology-oncology ward of Taleghani Educational Hospital in Tehran, Iran. Vancomycin use was assessed during a pre- and post-intervention period in accordance with the Center of Disease Control and prevention (CDC) and Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) guidelines. Following the intervention, there was a significant change in appropriate initiation of vancomycin (P = 0.009) and no significant improvement was observed in adequate dosage and the duration of therapy (P = 0.15 and P = 0.54 respectively); however, informing the physician resulted in discontinuation of the drug in 50% of inappropriate cases and vancomycin dosage was adjustedin 31% of cases. Temperature charts, culture results and pre-treatment CBC tests changed significantly (P = 0.02, P = 0.009 and P = 0.04 respectively). The rate of infusion related adverse drug reactions did not decrease significantly (P = 0.06); yet in 100% of patients, these reactions were resolved after notifying the nursing team. After pharmacist intervention,vancomycin use improved in some aspects. A significant improvement in appropriate initiation of therapy was observed; however, treatments continued despite negative cultures. It is necessary to optimize the use of vancomycin by performing more educational interventions.