Rationalizing prescription via deprescribing in oncology practice.

OBJECTIVE: To provide an integrated approach for deprescribing practice in oncology setting. DATA SOURCES: The data on deprescribing in oncology settings has been retrieved from the PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar. We used "deprescribing," "potentially inappropriate medication" and "cancer" as a keyword for the conducting general search. The articles relevant to guidelines or tools used to deprescribe in cancer care were included. DATA SUMMARY: The nature of cancer, its treatment strategies, adverse effects of therapy and multimorbidity impact negatively on quality of life (QoL). Further, they invite polypharmacy which puts the patient at higher risk of drug-related problems like drug interactions, adverse drug reactions and addition of potentially improper medications, etc. In older adults with cancer, the incidence of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) was between 41% and 52%. Over the decades, multiple strategies have been developed to assess the appropriateness of therapy. One such approach is deprescribing. OncPal and oncoSTRIP (Systematic Tool to Reduce Inappropriate Prescribing) are the cancer specific guidelines whereas BEERs criteria, Screening Tool to Alert to Right Treatment/Screening Tool of Older Person's Prescriptions criteria (START/STOPP criteria), medication appropriateness index (MAI) are the cancer nonspecific tools to identify PIM among cancer patients. Here, we provided an integrative approach and algorithm for deprescribing in oncology setting which includes patient and caregiver goals, life expectancy (LE), review of medications, determining medication appropriateness, assessment of time to benefit (TTB), symptomatic and asymptomatic care, identifying medications to cease, implementation of the plan, monitoring and reviewing. CONCLUSION: Deprescribing in oncology setting is a novel and effective patient-centric approach to counteract the use of PIM, which helps to mitigate polypharmacy, drug-drug interactions, and adverse effects.

Intraoperative factors contributory to myocardial injury in high-risk patients undergoing abdominal surgery in a South Indian population.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Myocardial injury after non-cardiac surgery (MINS) is associated with high postoperative mortality. We sought to examine the intraoperative variables associated with MINS among high-risk patients undergoing abdominal surgery at a South Indian Centre. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of patients who underwent abdominal surgery, aged >45 years with one of five factors: hypertension, diabetes mellitus, previous coronary artery disease (CAD), stroke, or peripheral vascular disease or all patients >65 years of age was undertaken. Forty-six patients with raised troponin Group P (Trop I > 0.03 ng/d) were compared with 125 troponin-negative patients Group N (Trop I < 0.012 ng/dL) as well as 51 with intermediate levels Group I (Trop I > 0.012 and < 0.03 ng/dL). We evaluated the association of pre and intraoperative factors on MINS using logistic regression to identify the explanatory variables. RESULTS: Demographics were similar among the three groups. In-hospital mortality was significantly higher in group P (P = 0.005).The use of vasopressors (OR 2.6; 95% CI 1.2-5.5), female gender, (OR 2.3; 95%CI 1.1-4.7), associated CAD (OR 2.8;95% CI 1.1-7.4), and fresh frozen plasma (FFP) transfusion (OR 12.1;95% CI 1.3-11.7) were associated with MINS in regression analysis between group P versus group N. Female gender (OR2.3; 95% CI 1.2-4.5), postoperative mechanical ventilation (OR 3.5; 95% CI 1.2-10.4), and perioperative hypothermia (OR 4.5; 95% CI 1.3-14.9) were significant between Group P and Group I with Group N. CONCLUSIONS: Female patients with CAD undergoing abdominal surgery, needing vasopressors and transfusion of plasma are at high risk for MINS with higher hospital mortality and merit vigilant monitoring postoperatively.