[Drugs used in a medical intensive care unit]

The treatments of 400 consecutive patients admitted in a 22-bed adult medical intensive care unit (ICU) were analysed prospectively. One hundred and thirty-one different drugs were prescribed with a mean of 5 +/- 4 drugs per patient (means +/- SD), during 8 +/- 11 days. The most commonly prescribed drugs were 1) preventive drugs, 2) antibiotics, 3) psychoactive drugs and analgesics. Two-thirds of the drugs were administered by a parenteral route. Mean daily cost was low: 57 FF per patient (6.3 US dollars, 1984), most of this being due to the prescription of antibiotics (59.8%). The wide range of drugs prescribed in different ICU precludes the compilation of a restricted list of drugs to be used in ICU. Nevertheless, prescription guidelines are suggested consisting of the discussion, for each patient, of the prescription of any of four types of drugs: those of the organ failure(s), of the underlying disease(s), preventive drugs, and finally comfort drugs.