Comparison of a polypharmacy-based scale with Charlson comorbidity index to predict 6-month mortality in chronic complex patients after an ED visit.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to test whether a newly designed polypharmacy-based scale would perform better than Charlson's Comorbidity Index (CCI) to predict outcomes in chronic complex adult patients after a reference Emergency Department (ED) visit. METHODS: We built a polypharmacy-based scale with prespecified drug families. The primary outcome was 6-month mortality after the reference ED visit. Predefined secondary outcomes were need for hospital admission, 30-day readmission, and 30-day and 90-day mortality. We evaluated the ability of the CCI and the polypharmacy-based scale to independently predict 6-month mortality using logistic regression, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and cumulative survival curves using Kaplan-Meier estimates and the log-rank test for three-category distributions of the polypharmacy-based scale and the CCI. Finally, we sought to replicate our results in two different external validation cohorts. RESULTS: We included 201 patients (53.7% women, mean age = 81.4 years), 162 of whom were admitted to the hospital at the reference ED visit. In separate multivariable analyses accounting for gender, age and main diagnosis at discharge, both the polypharmacy-based scale (P < .001) and the CCI (P = .005) independently predicted 6-month mortality. The polypharmacy-based scale performed better in the ROC analyses (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.838, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.780-0.896) than the CCI (AUC = 0.628, 95% CI = 0.548-0.707). In the 6-month cumulative survival analysis, the polypharmacy-based scale showed statistical significance (P < .001), whereas the CCI did not (P = .484). We replicated our results in the validation cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: Our polypharmacy-based scale performed significantly better than the CCI to predict 6-month mortality in chronic complex patients after a reference ED visit.

Trends in hospital consumption of analgesics after the implementation of a pain performance improvement plan / Tendências no consumo hospitalar de analgésicos após a implantação de plano de melhoria do controle da dor

Abstract Background: Pain management committee established a pain performance improvement plan in 2012. Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the trends in analgesic consumption in a tertiary teaching hospital and the associated economic impact. Methods: A descriptive, retrospective study was conducted between 2011 and 2015. The analysis included: anti-inflammatory and antirheumatic products non-steroids, opioid analgesics and other analgesics and antipyretics. Data are converted into DDD/100 bed-days to analyze consumption trends. Main outcome measure: assessment of the analgesic consumption after the implementation of a pain performance improvement plan. Results: Overall, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and antirheumatic products consumption decreased in 24.8 DDD/100 bed-days (-28.3%), accounting for most of the total analgesic consumption decrease (-13%) and total cost (-44.3%). Opioid consumption increased markedly from 22.3 DDD/100 bed-days in 2011 to 26.5 DDD/100 bed-days in 2015 (+18.9%). In 2011, the most consumed opioid was morphine (8.6 DDD/100 bed-days). However, there was an increasing trend in fentanyl consumption (from 8.1 to 12.1 DDD/100 bed-days in 2015), which resulted in fentanyl replacing morphine from the most consumed opioid in 2015 (12.1 DDD/100 bed-days). In 2015, the group of other analgesics and antipyretics represented 46.2% of the total analgesic consumption. Acetaminophen was the most commonly consumed analgesic drug (53.2 DDD/100 bed-days in 2015) and had the highest total cost, it represented 55.4% of the overall cost in 2015. Conclusion: Opioid consumption showed an increasing trend during the 5 year period, with fentanyl replacing morphine as the most used opioid. In general, analgesics diminished use was due to the decreasing trend of consumption of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and antirheumatic products.

Resumo Justificativa: A Comissão para o Manejo da Dor estabeleceu um plano de melhoria no controle da dor em 2012. Objetivo: Avaliar as tendências do consumo de analgésicos em um hospital de ensino terciário e o impacto econômico associado. Métodos: Estudo descritivo, retrospectivo, feito entre 2011 e 2015. A análise incluiu: produtos anti-inflamatórios e antirreumáticos não esteroides, analgésicos opioides e outros analgésicos e antipiréticos. Os dados foram convertidos em DDD/100 leitos-dia para analisar as tendências de consumo. Principal medida do desfecho: avaliação do consumo de analgésicos após o estabelecimento de um plano de melhoria no controle da dor. Resultados: O consumo total de produtos anti-inflamatórios e antirreumáticos não esteroides diminuiu em 24,8 DDD/100 leitos-dia (-28,3%), representando a maior parte da redução total do consumo de analgésicos (-13%) e o custo total (-44,3%). O consumo global de opioides aumentou acentuadamente de 22,3 DDD/100 leitos-dia em 2011 para 26,5 DDD/100 leitos-dia em 2015 (+18,9%). Em 2011, o opioide mais consumido foi a morfina (8,6 DDD/100 leitos-dia). No entanto, houve uma tendência crescente no consumo de fentanil (de 8,1 para 12,1 DDD/100 leitos-dia em 2015), o que resultou na substituição de morfina por fentanil como o opioide mais consumido em 2015 (12,1 DDD/100 leitos-dia). Em 2015, o grupo dos outros analgésicos e antipiréticos representou 46,2% do consumo total de analgésicos. Acetaminofeno foi o analgésico mais consumido (53,2 DDD/100 leitos-dia em 2015) e teve o maior custo total, representou 55,4% do custo total em 2015. Conclusão: O consumo de opioides mostrou uma tendência crescente durante o período de cinco anos, fentanil substituiu morfina como o opioide mais usado. Em geral, o uso diminuído de analgésicos foi devido à tendência decrescente do consumo de produtos anti-inflamatórios e antirreumáticos não esteroides.

Cancellations of elective surgical procedures due to inadequate management of chronic medications.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVES: Inadequate management of chronic medication puts patients at risk and causes unnecessary suspension of surgical procedures. The objective of the study was to calculate the rate of cancellation of elective surgical procedures due to inadequate management of chronic medications and to analyse the underlying causes of cancellation. METHODS: We designed an analytic, observational, retrospective study of all elective surgical procedures performed from July to October 2017 in a tertiary hospital. The main variable was the percentage of surgeries cancelled owing to inadequate management of chronic medications. Other variables recorded included demographic characteristics, time between the preanaesthesia evaluation and surgery, drug involved, and the reason for incorrect management of the medication. RESULTS: During the study period, 5415 surgical procedures were programmed, and 793 (14.6%) were cancelled. Cancellations due to inadequate patient preparation accounted for 5.3% (42 cases), and 19 were related to incorrect medication management (2.4% of the total number of cancellations). The 19 patients, who were mostly men (73.7%), had a median age of 76 years (IQR 68-81). The drugs involved were acenocoumarol (6), enoxaparin (4), clopidogrel (4), direct-acting oral anticoagulants (2), acetylsalicylic acid (1), tocilizumab (1) and leflunomide (1). The reasons for drug mishandling were poor understanding of the anaesthesiology recommendations (15) and lack of a preanaesthesia evaluation (4). WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: Inadequate management of chronic medications (2.4%) is not the most frequent reason for cancellation, although it is one of the easiest to avoid. Based on our results, starting in October 2017, the Pharmacy Department began to offer a pharmaceutical service to patients with doubts about the preoperative management of chronic medications.

Polypharmacy and enteral nutrition in patients with complex chronic diseases / La polifarmacia del paciente crónico complejo y la nutrición enteral.

Oral medications are often administered through enteral feeding tubes in patients with complex chronic diseases. It is important to consider possible interactions between drugs and enteral nutrition that might lead to unsuccessful treatment or tube occlusion. These patients become subjects for higher risk of problems and errors such as drug incompatibility with enteral nutrition and inappropriate dosage form selection. It is possible to minimize the risk of tube occlusion and incompatibilities problems by recognizing potential medication errors, selecting the most appropriate drug and dosage form and using appropriate administration techniques. In this context, high-alert medications for patients with chronic diseases deserve special attention. Furthermore, risk exposure should be considered among healthcare professionals and patient caregivers handling hazardous drugs. Therefore, main incompatibility problems between drugs and enteral nutrition have been reviewed, including general recommendations for administration of oral medications through enteral feeding tubes and safe handling of hazardous drugs. Specific recommendations for administration of high-alert medications for patients with chronic diseases are also included.