Annette Mariam Mathew and Juny Sebastian*

Department of Pharmacy Practice, JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Mysuru, India

*Corresponding Author: Juny Sebastian, Department of Pharmacy Practice, JSS College of Pharmacy, JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, Mysuru, India.

Received: May 14, 2021; Published: June 29, 2021

Abstract

Background: Clinical pharmacy is considered as the essential part of healthcare team in a hospital setting providing pharmaceutical care services to ensure the rational drug use. The outcome of clinical pharmacy intervention is the improvement of treatment effectiveness by providing alternative suggestions on the drug related problems and medication errors.

Methods: Extensive literature search was performed using various search engines. The identified articles were screened and segregated based on the inclusion criteria of studies on clinical pharmacy intervention in pediatric intensive care unit to prepare the review article.

Results: Clinical pharmacist’s involvement ensures in assessing, recommending and prevention of any event involving drug therapy that potentially interfere with health outcomes. Various studies shows that dose alteration and pharmacokinetic recommendation are the most common interventions made by clinical pharmacists. There are certain factors that can induce the occurrence of drug related problems (DRPs) including polypharmacy, disease comorbidities, and long hospitalization and transferred admissions. Studies found the incidence rate of 5.5 interventions per patient in pediatric intensive care units (PICU) that has significant impact on the health outcome. Specific consideration should be given to special population including pediatrics who are more likely to develop DRPs as pharmacodynamics and kinetic behaviors of drugs in this population differ from adults.

Conclusion: The identified contributing factors for DRPs in PICU are polypharmacy, long duration of hospital stay and comorbidities. As a part of the health care team, clinical pharmacist can review the treatment charts on daily basis to identify and suggest appropriate recommendations on identification of any DRPs or medication errors. These interventions can significantly improve the clinical and economical outcomes of patients admitted in PICUs.

Keywords: Clinical Pharmacy Intervention; Drug Related Problems; Medication Error; Pediatrics

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Citation

Citation: Annette Mariam Mathew and Juny Sebastian. “Clinical Pharmacy Interventions in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: A Review". Acta Scientific Pharmaceutical Sciences 5.7 (2020): 164-170.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2021 Annette Mariam Mathew and Juny Sebastian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.