Identification of Potential Drug-Drug Interactions in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital of Odisha, India

Background: To accomplish a specific therapeutic purpose, drugs are frequently used in combination. Concurrent drug use can result in drug-drug interactions (DDIs), which can have negative effects on patients. Information about potential drug-drug interactions (PDDIs) should be made available to healthcare providers. The article reviews our hospital's drug interaction (DI) trend and examines whether it is related to polypharmacy. It also assess the degree of seriousness of potential drug-drug interactions (PDDI). Objective: To evaluate our hospital's drug-drug interaction trend. Methods: In this cross-sectional observational study, we examined the prescriptions of children between the ages of one month and fifteen years who were admitted to the PICU. Using drug interaction checking software, we classified the prescriptions according to the severity (Unknown, minor, moderate, and major), the number of concurrent medications used, and the possible consequences of these PDDIs. Results: We discovered 482 PDDIs out of 101 prescriptions, of which 64.9% were moderate, 19.29% were minor, 12.4% were unknown, and 7.67% were major. The average number of PDDIs per prescription was highest for prescriptions including more than 10 drugs (7.8). Third-generation cephalosporins, ureidopenicillin, carbapenem, and aminoglycosides accounted for 39% of PDDIs, followed by salbutamol (20.12%) and antiepileptic medications (18.67%). Low potassium (11.2%) was the most common possible consequence. Conclusions: The findings of this study may help with the planning and execution of future research as well as the monitoring and prevention of PDDIs associated with adverse events in children in critical care.