AN OBSERVATIONAL PROSPECTIVE STUDY OF PRESCRIPTION PATTERN OF ANTIMICROBIALS USED IN NEONATAL SEPSIS IN TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN WESTERN RAJASTHAN

Padmaram*, Archana Vyas, Anusuya Gehlot and Monika Sharma

ABSTRACT

Background: Neonatal sepsis is a Clinical syndrome manifested by systemic signs of infection and isolation of bacterial pathogens from bloodstream. Sepsis is the 3rd commonest cause of neonatal death. Neonatal mortality rate in Rajasthan is quite high and data on utilization of antimicrobials for neonatal sepsis is scanty therefore we planned to conduct this study. Method: Study was conducted in NICU of Umaid Hospital, a tertiary care teaching hospital associated with Dr. S. N. Medical College, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. 250 Neonates of either sex admitted to NICU with suspected or confirmed sepsis were included in the study while those neonates admitted in other wards were excluded from study. Appropriate patients were selected by regular visits to NICU and were followed till discharge from NICU. EPI-INFO version 7 software was used for statistical analysis of data. Result: Total 250 cases of neonatal sepsis were studied, of which 148(59.2%) were suspected and 102(40.8%) were confirmed (culture positive) cases. Majority of patients received 2 or 3 antibiotics during the course of therapy. Almost all (97.95%) antibiotics were prescribed by generic names and 77.7% were prescribed from EDL. Most commonly prescribed antibiotics were Ampicillin, Cefotaxime and Amikacin. 85.21% patients were discharged and mortality was 7.6%. Conclusion: Most commonly prescribed antibiotics were Ampicillin, Cefotaxime and Amikacin. Antibiotic utilization studies are good exploratoray tools to know the role of drugs in society and they also create a basis for health care decision making.

Keywords: Drug utilization pattern, Neonatal sepsis.