Prescription Pattern in the Department of Surgery in A Tribal District Hospital of Andhra Pradesh, India

BACKGROUND: Usually, surgical management cannot be completed without the use of antimicrobial and analgesic drugs. Irrational prescription may lead to severe postoperative complications. AIM: The objective of this study was to evaluate the prescription trend in the surgery department of a tribal district hospital so as to determine the extent of rational use of medicines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a retrospective study in which 50 cases were selected randomly. Case records were analyzed for prescription trend. Data was analyzed using Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and values were presented descriptively. RESULTS: Most of the cases were between the age group of 21 and 40 years, 18 cases (36%). Commonest cause of hospitalization was renal calculi (10 (20%)) followed by acute abdomen and abscess (6, (12%)). Total of 255 numbers of drugs were used with an average of 5.1 drugs per patient. Most preferred route was intravenous route (174 drugs, 68.2%). Antimicrobial was the most common (97 (38.0%)) group of drugs followed by analgesic/antipyretics (50 (19.6%)). Among antimicrobials, ciprofloxacin (22 (22.7%)) was the most common drug followed by metronidazole (21 (18.5%)). All the cases were managed by empirical treatment. Two different antimicrobials were prescribed to 20 (40%) of cases. Dosage of 83 (32.6%) drugs was inappropriate while frequency was inappropriate in 26 (10.2%) cases. CONCLUSION: Urgent steps like specific guidelines, training, and monitoring of drugs use are needed to correct some irrational approaches.