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Potential Drug-Drug Interactions Among Critically Ill Pediatric Patients in a Tertiary Pulmonary Center

Maryam Hassanzad1, Sara Arenas-Lopez2, Shadi Baniasadi3

  • 1Pediatric Respiratory Diseases Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
|August 24, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) patients frequently experience potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) due to complex medication regimens. Managing these pDDIs requires close collaboration between clinicians and clinical pharmacologists to ensure patient safety.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Intensive Care
  • Clinical Pharmacology
  • Drug Interactions

Background:

  • Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) patients face a high risk of potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) due to complex pharmacotherapy.
  • Understanding the frequency, patterns, and risk factors of pDDIs is crucial for patient safety in PICU settings.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the rate, pattern, risk factors, and management of pDDIs in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of an academic pulmonary hospital.
  • To identify associations between patient characteristics, medication use, and the occurrence of pDDIs.

Main Methods:

  • A prospective observational study was conducted over 6 months.
  • Pharmacotherapy data from 123 PICU patients were analyzed by a clinical pharmacologist.
  • The Lexi-Interact database was used to identify and evaluate pDDIs, with logistic regression analyzing risk factors.

Main Results:

  • Respiratory diseases were the primary diagnosis in 56.1% of patients.
  • 38.6% of patients experienced at least one major or contraindicated pDDI during ICU admission.
  • pDDIs were most commonly associated with metabolic (35.4%) and additive (34.8%) mechanisms and significantly correlated with the number of prescribed medications.

Conclusions:

  • Potential drug-drug interactions are frequent in critically ill pediatric patients, primarily linked to the number of medications administered.
  • Close, daily collaboration between clinicians and clinical pharmacologists is recommended to mitigate harmful pDDI outcomes.

Keywords:
adverse drug eventsdrug-drug interactionsintensive care unitpediatric patientspulmonary diseases

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