Adverse drug reactions of antibiotics and it’s management in a tertiary care hospital: a prospective observational study

Abstract

Antibiotics are one of the widely used categories of drugs which have been used in clinical practice since last three decades. Adverse drug reactions (ADR) and antibiotic resistance are two main factors of concern while treating with antibiotics. In contrary of antibiotics being used for all kinds of infections, proper monitoring, escalation and de-escalation of doses of antibiotics, proper antibiogram and appropriate follow up should be carried out for patients. In this study, a total of 2.26% ADRs (50) were identified from 48 patients taken out of 2216 patients which was conducted in a tertiary care hospital of South India for a period of six months from February 2019 to July 2019. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Out of 50 ADRs, 33 (66%) occurred in male patients and 17 (34%) in female patients. More adverse reactions were observed in general medicine department 16 (32%) and followed by cardiology department 13 (26%). Skin reactions 13 (26%) were found to be more followed by haemopoietic disorders 11 (22%), gastrointestinal system disorders 10 (20%), urinary system disorders 8 (16%) and few other systems. From the study, it was concluded that by reducing the adverse drug reactions of antibiotics, patients could avoid unnecessary hospitalization, increased waiting time, cost and disability or death. There could be improvement in patient safety.