Pruritus Associated with Commonly Prescribed Medications in a Tertiary Care Center

Abstract

Background: Sparse data are available on rates of drug-induced pruritus, a well-recognized adverse reaction. We sought to assess relative rates of pruritus associated with commonly prescribed medications. Methods: Using the electronic medical record system EPIC, retrospective data were collected on patients seen at Johns Hopkins who received a medication of interest in a five-year period (2013–2018). Sequential criteria were used to identify the subpopulation who presented with a chief complaint of “pruritus” or diagnosis of “itching” within three months of receiving drugs. Results: We identified 9802 patients with pruritus after drug initiation and 1,085,404 patients without. A higher proportion of those with pruritus were female (70%) than those without (58%), p < 0.001. Patients in both groups were most commonly 50 to 79 years old. A higher proportion of patients with pruritus were black (40%) compared to those without (23%), p < 0.001. In this study, the highest rates of pruritus were observed with heparin (1.11%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (1.06%), and calcium channel blockers (0.92%). Psychiatric/neurologic drugs used to treat pruritus were associated with low rates of itch. Conclusions: Certain cardiovascular and antimicrobial agents are associated with increased frequencies of pruritus. This knowledge may guide providers in clinical selection of commonly used agents to minimize adverse effects associated with reduced compliance.

Pruritus, as a Neglected Symptom, in Opioid Poisoning in Children

“…Also, Benson et al declared that opioid-induced pruritus (OIP) is one of the most common adverse effects of oral and neuraxial opioids (12). Huang et al's study on relative rates of pruritus associated with common drugs in adults showed that among all drugs investigated, heparin (1.11%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (1.06%), and calcium channel blockers (0.92%) were associated with the highest rates of pruritus, their study was conducted on adult and in chronic drug users (13). Szarvas et al reported the induction of OPI after intrathecal and epidural opioids varies between 30 and 100% ( 14).…”

Emerging Research in Chronic Pruritus: From Bedside to Bench and Back Again

“…These adverse reactions can be chronic or acute and the pruritus generated can occur via direct skin inflammation or through systemic mediators depending on the causative drug [15]. In addition to the significant impact on quality of life pruritus can have, drug-induced pruritus also makes patients less compliant to their medication regimens [16]. Huang et al performed a study to assess the rates of pruritus associated with commonly prescribed medications [16].…”

“…In addition to the significant impact on quality of life pruritus can have, drug-induced pruritus also makes patients less compliant to their medication regimens [16]. Huang et al performed a study to assess the rates of pruritus associated with commonly prescribed medications [16]. Using retrospective data of 9802 patients with pruritus after drug initiation, they found the highest rates of pruritus in patients taking heparin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and calcium channel blockers [16].…”

“…Huang et al performed a study to assess the rates of pruritus associated with commonly prescribed medications [16]. Using retrospective data of 9802 patients with pruritus after drug initiation, they found the highest rates of pruritus in patients taking heparin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and calcium channel blockers [16]. They also found that of the pruritic patients a significantly larger proportion of them were female or African American [16].…”

Multipurpose medical assistant robot (Docto-Bot) based on internet of things

“…A pulse oximeter design based on Raspberry [12], pulse oximeter [13], heartbeat monitoring [14], IoT device for heart problem detection [15] and Temperature-Humidity measurement system [16] has already been acknowledged in our work. We thought of using a unique robotics utilization and prescribed medicine care [17] for the healthcare digitalization sector [18]. In the controlling portion, some research based on path-finding autonomous movement [19], obstacle avoidance [20], [21], some are based on android app related user-end manual controlling [22].…”