Pharmaceutical interventions in prescriptions for patients admitted with chronic renal failure

Abstract

Background: Chronic Renal Failure (CRF) is a disease that requires determined medications dosages to be adjusted.

Objectives: To assess the characteristics of pharmaceutical interventions concerning the dose adjustment of these drugs in patients with CRF who are admitted into hospital.

Methods: A 10-month prospective and longitudinal study that calculated the glomerular filtration rate of patients who are brought into the emergency department and had values below 50ml/min/1.73m2. Subsequently, dosage recommendations were provided for the drugs that had not been adapted to the patient’s renal function.

Results: The renal functions of 5311 patients were reviewed. One-hundred and eighty-one (3.4%) had a glomerular filtration rate below 50ml/min/1.73m2 and were receiving drugs that needed to be adjusted. 221 interventions were recorded. Reductions in dosages were the more frequent results (65.6%); 65.6% of these recommendations were accepted by the doctor. The antimicrobial group had the highest number of interventions (57.5%). Internal Medicine (50.2%) was the unit with the most interventions.

Conclusion: CRF patients that are admitted into the emergency department are a key objective concerning dosages in chronic renal failure. Pharmaceutical recommendations are highly esteemed by doctors, given their high acceptance. Revising antimicrobial drugs offers more opportunities.