[Analysis of the valproic acid-meropenem interaction in hospitalised patients]. / Análisis de la interacción ácido valproico-meropenem en pacientes hospitalizados.

INTRODUCTION: Published data demonstrate a serious interaction between valproic acid and meropenem. However, recommendations about the management of concomitant treatment are contradictory; some experts recommend closer monitoring of valproic acid serum concentrations and others recommend avoiding concurrent therapy. The purpose of this study is to critically analyse the interaction and to evaluate the impact of pharmaceutical intervention in the use of these drugs in hospitalised patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Study of the concomitant prescription of valproic acid and meropenem in a general hospital of 1,080 beds divided in to two periods; the first period was retrospective and observational and it was followed by a prospective period involving pharmaceutical intervention. The prescription habits between both periods were compared. RESULTS: A total of 26 patients received concurrent treatment with valproic acid and meropenem (13 per period) and none of them maintained therapeutic serum levels of the antiepileptic drug. Pharmaceutical intervention modified prescription habits, reducing by half the number of days of concomitant treatment, changing the antibiotherapy and/or monitoring serum concentrations more often. CONCLUSIONS: The interaction between valproic acid and meropenem is serious, especially because of the dramatic decrease in the antiepileptic serum concentrations. The concomitant use of both drugs should be avoided, replacing the antibiotherapy empirically, or according to the resistance profiles of the microorganism and maintaining the same the anti-epileptic treatment.

[Analysis of errors in manual versus electronic prescriptions in trauma patients]. / Análisis de errores de la prescripción manual comparados con la prescripción electrónica asistida en pacientes traumatológicos.

OBJECTIVE: To detect, quantify, and compare the medication error produced with manual versus electronically assisted prescription systems. METHODS: A descriptive, observational, prospective study in two traumatology hospitalisation units; one with manual prescriptions and the other with electronically assisted prescriptions. Prescription errors were determined. RESULTS: We analysed 1,536 lines of treatment (393 treatment forms) from 164 patients. With manual prescriptions, we detected errors in 19.54% of cases, compared to 9.4% in electronically assisted prescriptions. Omission errors were significantly lower with electronically assisted prescriptions, especially with drugs that act upon the central nervous system. CONCLUSIONS: Prescription error has decreased by 53% since computerising the prescription process. This is particularly useful for omission errors, as prescription is more complete. The decrease in error regarding drugs that act on the central nervous system stands out.

[New technologies applied to the medication-dispensing process, error analysis and contributing factors]. / Nuevas tecnologías aplicadas al proceso de dispensación de medicamentos. Análisis de errores y factores contribuyentes.

OBJECTIVE: Calculate error prevalence occurred in different medication-dispensing systems, the stages of occurrence, and contributing factors. METHODOLOGY: Prospective observational study. The staging of the dispensing process were reviewed in five dispensing systems: Stock, Unitary-Dose dispensing systems (UDDS) without Computerized Prescription Order Entry (CPOE), CPOE-UDDS, Automated Dispensing Systems (ADS) without CPOE and CPOE-ADS. Dispensing errors were identified, together with the stages of occurrence of such errors and their contributing factors. RESULTS: 2,181 errors were detected among 54,169 opportunities of error. Error-rate: Stock, 10.7%; no-CPOE-UDDS, 3.7%, CPOE-UDDS, 2.2%, no-CPOE-ADS, 20.7%; CPOE-ADS, 2.9%. Most frequent stage when error occurs: Stock, preparation of order; no-CPOE-UDDS and CPOE-UDDS, filling of the unit dose cart; no-CPOE-ADS and CPOE-ADS, filling of the ADS. Most frequent error: Stock, no-CPOE-ADS and CPOE-ADS, omission; CPOE-UDDS, different amount of drug and no-CPOE-UDDS, extra medication. Contributing factor: Stock, CPOE-ADS and no-CPOE-ADS, stock out/supply problems; CPOE-UDDS, inexperienced personnel and deficient communication system between professionals; no-CPOE-UDDS, deficient communication system between professionals. CONCLUSIONS: Applying new technologies to the dispensing process has increased its safety, particularly, implementation of CPOE has enabled to reduce dispensing errors.

[Prescription errors after the implementation of an electronic prescribing system]. / Errores de prescripción tras la implantación de un sistema de prescripción electrónica asistida.

OBJECTIVE: This study sets out to identify, compare and evaluate the medication errors of a manual prescribing system and an electronic prescribing system during the prescription and transcription phases. METHOD: A prospective study of two clinical in-patient units (pneumology and infectious diseases) in one general hospital. Two phases were studied; before and after an electronic prescribing system was implemented. Each phase lasted one month. A comparative analysis was carried out of the medication errors in the medical prescription process, the transcription process and the administration recording process carried out by nursing staff as well as the pharmacist s transcriptions/validations. RESULTS: A total of 3,908 patient treatment errors and 129 patient identification errors were detected during both of the periods studied. The rate of errors in patient identification or treatment orders using the manual prescribing system was 14.4 against 1.3% after the electronic system was implemented. The relative risk reduction for infectious diseases and pneumology was 100 and 85.44%, respectively (statistically significant). In general, relative risk reduction was achieved in both units, oscillating between 78.91 and 100%. The absolute risk reduction oscillated between 5.09 and 30.45% for errors in drug data, doses, frequency/time and route of administration. These results were statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The electronic prescribing system has reduced errors in the identification, prescription and transcription of pharmacological treatment and has consequently helped to improve the quality and safety of drug treatment received by patients.

[The application of new technologies to hospital pharmacy in Spain]. / Aplicación de las nuevas tecnologías a la farmacia hospitalaria en España.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the degree of introduction of new technologies in the medication use process in pharmacy services in Spain. METHOD: A descriptive study via a survey into the degree of introduction of computer systems for: management, computerized physician order entry (CPOE), automated unit dose drug dispensing, preparation of parenteral nutrition solutions, recording drug administration, pharmaceutical care and foreseen improvements. The survey was sent by electronic mail to the heads of the pharmacy services of 207 hospitals throughout Spain. RESULTS: Response index: 82 hospitals (38.6%). 29 hospitals (36.7%) have a modular management system, 24 (30.4%) an integrated one and 34 (44.9%) a modular-integrated one. CPOE is utilised in 17 (22.4%). According to the size of the hospital, between 17.9 and 26.7% of unit dose dispensing is done online with a management software; between 5.1 and 33.3% of unit dose dispensing is automated. Automation of unit dose dispensing centred in the pharmacy service varies between 10 and 33.3%. Between 13.2 and 35.7% of automated in-ward dispensing systems are utilised. Administration records are kept manually on a computerised sheet at 23 (31.5%) of the hospitals; at 4 (5.4%) on CPOE and 7 (9.5%) online on the integral management programme and 4 (5.4%) on specific nursing softwares. Sixty-three per cent foresee the implementation of improvements in the short to medium term. CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of new technologies is being developed in Spain aiming to improve the safety and management of drugs, and there is a trend towards increasing their deployment in the near future. It is hoped that their fomentation could help to bring about process reengineering within pharmacy services in order to increase the time available for devotion to pharmaceutical care.

[Effect of modal computer-based alerts on the prescription of valproic acid and meropenem]. / Impacto de las alertas interactivas modales en la prescripción informatizada de ácido valproico y meropenem.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effect of modal computer-based alerts on the concomitant prescription of valproic acid (VPA) and meropenem. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Analytical intervention study conducted in a tertiary hospital for eleven months. Hospitalized patients with a diagnosis of epilepsy and treated with VPA and meropenem in concomitant therapy were included. In the computerized prescription order entry software an automatic non-modal alert was reconverted to a modal one. This was triggered when the physician introduced VPA and meropenem together in the same prescription. To measure the effect of this alert the prescription habits were compared with a previous period in which the alert was not modal. RESULTS: Modal computer-based alert modified the prescription habit by reducing the number of patients with concomitant treatment from 13 to 4 (P=.046). However, it was notable that the number of requests for VPA serum levels decreased, and the average number of concomitant days of treatment rose from 4.7 to 8.75 in those patients in which none of the drugs was suspended. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of modal computer-based alerts reduces patient exposure to concomitant treatment with meropenem and VPA.

[Failure modes and effects analysis in the prescription, validation and dispensing process]. / Análisis modal de fallos y efectos del proceso de prescripción, validación y dispensación de medicamentos.

OBJECTIVE: To apply a failure modes and effects analysis to the prescription, validation and dispensing process for hospitalised patients. METHODS: A work group analysed all of the stages included in the process from prescription to dispensing, identifying the most critical errors and establishing potential failure modes which could produce a mistake. The possible causes, their potential effects, and the existing control systems were analysed to try and stop them from developing. The Hazard Score was calculated, choosing those that were ≥ 8, and a Severity Index = 4 was selected independently of the hazard Score value. Corrective measures and an implementation plan were proposed. RESULTS: A flow diagram that describes the whole process was obtained. A risk analysis was conducted of the chosen critical points, indicating: failure mode, cause, effect, severity, probability, Hazard Score, suggested preventative measure and strategy to achieve so. Failure modes chosen: Prescription on the nurse's form; progress or treatment order (paper); Prescription to incorrect patient; Transcription error by nursing staff and pharmacist; Error preparing the trolley. CONCLUSIONS: By applying a failure modes and effects analysis to the prescription, validation and dispensing process, we have been able to identify critical aspects, the stages in which errors may occur and the causes. It has allowed us to analyse the effects on the safety of the process, and establish measures to prevent or reduce them.

[Advances in the knowledge of the use of micronutrients in artificial nutrition]. / Avances en el conocimiento del uso de micronutrientes en nutrición artificial.

Micronutrients are defined as those compounds necessary for the adequate physiological status of the organism and that may be administered through the daily diet either enteral or parenteral. The term micronutrient encompasses the vitamins and oligoelements, also termed trace elements. Vitamins cannot be synthesized by the organism and are categorized in two groups: water-soluble vitamins (the vitamin B group, C, folic acid, and biotin) and lipid-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K). Oligoelements are found in small amounts in the human body, and copper, cobalt, chrome, iron, iodine, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, and zinc are considered to be essential. The important role of micronutrients in critically-ill patients has been demonstrated, and their influence on the immune system, cancer, burnt, septic, and poly-traumatized patients has extensively been put in evidence. It is important to establish the micronutrients demands for each individual in order to achieve an adequate intake. However, there is little evidence on the necessary intake to achieve proper physiological functioning under different pathologies; therefore, studies bringing light to this situation are needed. The aim of this review is to update the current state of knowledge on micronutrients supplementation in the adult population with pathologies such as cancer, coronary and cardiovascular disease, bowel inflammatory disease, short-bowel syndrome, cystic fibrosis, liver disease, renal failure, respiratory failure, the surgical patient, big-burnt patient, pancreatitis, poly-traumatized patients, sepsis and HIV. After the bibliographical search, we describe the current state of knowledge regarding micronutrients intake in artificial nutrition under the above-mentioned pathologies.

Adverse drug reactions which provoke hospital admission.

OBJECTIVE: To identify, classify and quantify the frequency of negative clinical adverse drug reactions (ADR) resulting in hospital admission from the emergency department (ED). To determine ADR preventability, identify ADR-related admission factors, calculate related costs and recognise which drugs are the most often involved. METHOD: Cross-sectional, prospective and observational study of patients that were admitted to hospital from the ED. We used the Dader method to detect ADR. We classified ADR in accordance with the Tercer Consenso de Granada (third Granada consensus), and calculated ADR preventability using the Schumock and Thornton scales (modified by Otero et al), and ADR severity according to Schneider. We considered the direct costs generated during the hospital stay for the economic study. We analysed the correlation between ADR and age, sex, kidney and liver failure, and drug use. We used multiple logistic regression analysis to identify risk factors. RESULTS: 19.4% of admissions were the direct consequence of ADR, 65% of which were preventable. Antineoplastic therapy and immunosuppressants caused 38% of ADR. 20.4% of admissions had to be transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) or caused permanent damage. We found statistical significance between ADR and patients undergoing hormonal therapy, 'high risk' drugs and those admitted to the endocrinology department. The ADR-associated cost was €237,377. CONCLUSIONS: ADR-related admission is a problem with a high prevalence, and most cases are preventable.

[Treatment of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia meningoencephalitis with intraventricular colistin]. / Administración de colistina intraventricular para el tratamiento de la meningoencefalitis por Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.

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