Study on the use of drugs in patients with enteral feeding tubes

Abstract

Objective: To describe the use of drugs in patients using Enteral Feeding Tubes (EFT) at a University Hospital in southern Brazil.

Method: A total of 315 medical charts of patients that had used EFT were analyzed. Variables of interest were: days the tube was used, number and frequency of drugs administered by the tube, pharmaceutical dosage forms and the number of tube exchanges per patients.

Results: The mean of age of the patients was 59 years (SD = 21) and 59% were male. A mean number of drugs prescribed per patient with tube administration were five. Almost all patients (95%) used some drugs in solid pharmaceutical preparations, mostly tablets (72%). About 158 different drugs were prescribed; for 23% of these, the prescription of liquid dosage forms was possible. The chance of changing the enteral tube was greater for patients that used more than five drugs enterally (OR = 4.8, 95% CI 2.8-8.2) and that had more than 13 drug administrations per day (OR = 5.3, 95% CI 3.1-9.3).

Conclusion: This study provides evidence that patients using more drugs enterally have a greater chance of having their enteral tube exchanged. Furthermore, it suggests a lack of knowledge of the health team with regard to the appropriateness of pharmaceutical preparations for this administration.