[Physicians' expectations towards pharmacy services on ward]. / Service pharmaceutique en service de soins: quelle adéquation avec les attentes des prescripteurs?

Clinical pharmacy practice reveals an effective strategy to reduce medication errors and related costs. The present study aimed at confronting hospital perscribers' expectations towards pharmacy services and their jugement on the usefulness of routine pharmacist interventions. A questionnaire was sent to 562 prescribers of the Grenoble Teaching Hospital. They were asked to rank 1. key-points of prescribing process and specify those that could be shared with the pharmacist, 2. usefulness of a series of pharmacist interventions extracted from daily routine, 3. opportunity to perpetuate pharmacy service on ward. Questionnaire response rate was 18%. Concerning the key-points of the prescription process, (compliance to indications and guidelines, drug choice, dosage), responses express the physician's monopoly. Pharmacist's input in terms of drug choice or monitoring seems reduced. Experience in working with a clinical pharmacist or "junior prescriber" status have a positive effect on precribers' perception towards clinical pharmacy. 25% of the respondents cite the pharmacist as an active player in managing different key-points of the prescription. After being confronted with clinical examples, 73% of the prescribers consider pharmacists' interventions as useful.

The occurrence of the ilio-lumbar syndrome in a spinal cord injury patient.

STUDY DESIGN: Case report of a 71-year-old man having sustained a spinal cord injury (SCI) for 26 years. He started to suffer from low back pain 21 years after his onset and this was diagnosed as ilio-lumbar syndrome (ILS). OBJECTIVES: To describe the problem of low back pain occurring after a change of wheelchair in a SCI, and to indicate the importance of the ilio-lumbar syndrome as a possible cause of low back complaint. OUTCOME: Clinical findings supported by echotomography confirmed the diagnosis of ILS in our case. CONCLUSION: ILS should be considered when some changes and deterioration of the status of SCI occur due to low back complaint.