BackgroundStress ulcer is a superficial and asymptomatic lesion and causes bleeding. As many as 50% of death cases are reported as the result of stress ulcer bleeding. Stress ulcer prophylaxis (SUP) is a drug used to prevent gastrointestinal tract injuries due to stress ulcers. The inappropriate use of SUP drugs can cause adverse drug reactions, and thus SUP drugs are only given to patients in accordance with guidelines in order to avoid the overuse of SUP drugs. The aim of this present study is to analyse the suitability of SUP drug usage based on the criteria from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and the drug costs of SUP overuse.MethodsAn observational descriptive study was conducted from April 24, 2019, to May 17, 2019, in the inpatient surgical ward of Dr. Soetomo General Hospital. Data were obtained from patient medical health records.ResultsOne hundred fifty-two patients used 1404 SUP drugs. Approximately 48% of usage did not suit the ASHP criteria and was considered as medication overuse. The cost of excessive SUP usage during the study period was more than US $65, which is 30.08% of the total drug cost of prescribed stress ulcer drugs.ConclusionsThe present study suggests that the relatively high excessive drug costs for SUP show a need for monitoring of the application of SUP therapy guidelines.

Background: Breakthrough pain is an exacerbation of pain occurring in patients with chronic pain who receive opioid therapy every day. Breakthrough pain has not been routinely recognized, evaluated and treated. This study aimed to analyze the utilization of opiates analgesics, including dose regimentation, frequency of use, and the actual adverse effects in cancer patients with breakthrough pain.Methods: Data were collected by the retrospective method in the period from January to December 2017.Patients involved received opioids around the clock for treating background pain and rescue medication for treating breakthrough pain. The percentage of the rescue medication dose was calculated based on the total daily opioid dose to treat background pain. Descriptive analysis was used.Results: From 335 visits, there were 334 of patient visit where the patient received immediate-release morphine as a rescue medication with a dose percentage between 6.67-60%, and 1 visit where the patient received codeine with a dose percentage of 16.67%. Of 335 visits, 233 patient visits received the right proportion of opioid rescue medication doses, while 102 patient visits received a greater dose proportion than the recommended dose of 5-20%.Conclusions: Immediate-release morphine is the most commonly prescribed analgesic to treat breakthrough pain and used at 6.67-60% of daily dose with the frequency of use between 2 to 6 times a day. There were 189 (56.42%) patient visits when the patient experienced the adverse effects of the opioid. The identified actual adverse effects are constipation, nausea, and vomiting.

Objectives The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that more than 50% of drugs were prescribed incorrectly, including stress ulcer prophylaxis (SUP) drugs. Prescribing SUP drugs in incorrect doses and frequencies are considered irrational, and may affects to the effectivity of the therapy. This research aimed to assess the appropriateness of the SUP drugs regimentation in the inpatient surgery room at Dr. Soetomo Hospital, Surabaya, Indonesia. Methods This research was cross-sectional study and conducted for 4 weeks in 2019 in the inpatient surgery room of Dr. Soetomo Hospital. The population was SUP drugs that were prescribed in inpatient surgery room. Those SUP drugs with indications for the prevention of stress-induced ulcers that complied to the terms listed on the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) were included as the samples, and vice versa. The samples then assessed for their regimentation appropriateness using the dose and frequency standard of ASHP. Results There were 224 dose units taken as sample, from the total population of 1,404 SUP drugs. The result showed that as much as 48.2% of SUP medications were given to the patients in inappropriate regimentation. Of that number, all ranitidine injection were inappropriately regimented. On the contrary all omeprazole injection dose units were appropriately regimented, meanwhile the amount of appropriate regimentation of sucralfate suspension were 74.6%. Conclusions According to ASHP standard, the SUP drugs in the inpatient surgery room at Dr. Soetomo Hospital were mostly given in inappropriate regimentation. Further research is needed to explore how will those inappropriate regimentation affect on the efficacy of therapy in the patients.

Background Increased demand for arthroplasty also increases the number of complications of arthroplasty, especially surgical site infection (SSI). One of the effective strategies in preventing surgical site infection is the use of appropriate prophylactic antibiotics. Objective To identify and analyse information from clinical studies regarding factors affecting the effectiveness of prophylactic antibiotics in arthroplasty patients. Methods A scoping review was conducted through the PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases within a publication range from January 2004 to August 2020. Study data are extracted and analysed by a minimum of two reviewers. Results The search results found 2.419 articles, with 39 articles were included for further analysis. Cefazolin monotherapy was the most frequently studied antibiotic (15 articles) followed by vancomycin monotherapy (8 articles). Most widely used antibiotics in arthroplasty were cefazolin mono-therapy (997.599 procedures with SSI incidence range: 0,20–16,05%) followed by vancomycin mono-therapy (125.170 procedures with SSI incidence range: 0.27–3,88%) The correct antibiotic dose has a lower percentage of the SSI than the wrong antibiotic dose. Meanwhile, administration of antibiotics within single dose or <24 h had a lower SSI percentage than administration of antibiotics >24 h. Administration antibiotics before incision also have a lower SSI percentage than after incision. There were no studies that discussed re-dosing of antibiotics in this scoping review. Conclusions There is still a need for further research related to the duration and specific timing of first dose of prophylactic antibiotics, especially regarding single dose or multiple dose antibiotics to obtain maximum effectiveness of antibiotic prophylaxis

Background The use of high dose and long-term prednisone as glucocorticoid in steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome patients can cause the suppressive effect on endogenous steroid production, namely HPA axis suppression which is characterized by the decrease of ACTH levels. This can decrease cortisol levels so can affect metabolism process, immune response, and brain function. Objective To analyze ACTH levels in the induction and alternating phase, and to relate with the patient’s condition both clinical and laboratory data. Methods ACTH levels were measured before and after induction phase and four weeks after alternating phase at 08.00-09.30 a.m. Results 15 patients consisted of 9 boys and 6 girls showed there were no significant differences between ACTH levels in each phase. ACTH levels were increased 23.6% from 22.2 ± 13.1 pg/mL to 27.4 ± 23.0 pg/mL during the induction phase (p>0.05) and alternating phase also showed that ACTH levels were increased 1.7% from 27.4 ± 23.0 pg/mL to 27.9 ± 22.2 pg/mL (p>0.05). The clinical manifestation of HPA axis suppression such as hypoglycemia, hypotension, weight loss, appetite loss, and acute dehydration were not found in the patients. Weakness, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain were found only 7% after the induction phase. Conclusion HPA axis suppression did not occur after the high dose and long-term prednisone therapy in the induction and alternating phase which showed ACTH levels average in normal range. It was also supported by the absence of clinical and laboratory data that showed signs of HPA axis suppression.