Clinical pharmacist interventions in nutrition-and drug-related problems in critically ill patients with renal dysfunction: a non-randomized controlled study

• Published in: Frontiers in medicine 2024-10, Vol.11, p.1473719
• Main Authors: Özgan, Betül, Ayhan, Yunus Emre, Apikoglu, Sule, Karakurt, Sait
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: clinical pharmacist; drug-related problem; intensive care unit; nutrition; renal dysfunction
• ISSN: 2296-858X; 2296-858X
• DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1473719

Critically ill intensive care unit (ICU) patients often face life-threatening drug-related problems (DRPs) and malnutrition. Clinical pharmacists (CPs) play a crucial role in mitigating these issues and improving outcomes. This study was designed to detect, prevent, reduce or resolve nutrition-related problems (NRPs) and DRPs in intensive care patients with renal dysfunction through clinical pharmacy services. This 9-month, prospective, non-randomized, controlled study was conducted in the ICU. During the intervention period (IP), CP recommendations addressing NRPs and DRPs were provided to the healthcare team. NRPs were evaluated using an expert-developed enteral nutrition consensus protocol, while DRPs were classified according to the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE) Classification for Drug-Related Problems Version 9.1. The study included 60 patients with a median age of 73 years (IQR: 60.5-80). A total of 504 DRPs (8.4 per patient) were identified across all patients. DRPs were decreased by 50% during the IP compared to the observation period (OP) (