Publication:

Measurement of antibiotic consumption in surgical ward of a tertiary care hospital

Background Antibiotic resistance is a global health problem. Improper use of antibiotics leads to development of antibiotic resistance, side effects, superinfections and increase in treatment costs. There are few publications on antibiotic consumption. Serious morbidity and mortality are associated with postoperative wound infections. The use of peri or pre-operative antibiotics has resulted in a reduced risk of postoperative infection when appropriate principles of prophylaxis are applied.

Methods An observational study during a 2-month period was carried out in the department of surgery of Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Science and Research, Burla. We utilized the administrative data for expression of antibiotic consumption using anatomical therapeutic classification (ATC) / defined daily dose (DDDs) methodology. The information included were drug names, strength, pharmaceutical form, quantity dispensed, total number of patients admitted during the study period and average length of stay. Each drug was then given a code according to the ATC classification. The number of DDDs and DDDs/100 bed days was calculated.

Results The most frequent antibiotic used was cephalosporin group with DDDs 62.70 DDDs/100 bed days (44.34%) followed by metronidazole with 23.10 DDDs/100 bed days (16.34%). Among cephalosporin group most common antibiotic used was ceftriaxone with 24.46 DDDs/100 bed days. The mean duration of stay was 7.2 days.

Conclusions The results of this study are similar to previous studies and it showed that there is irrational use of antibiotics as there is no antibiotic policy in our hospital. Drug utilization research should be carried out at frequent intervals to improve rational use of antibiotics.