The Canadian journal of hospital pharmacy最新文献

Background: Tacrolimus is the most common calcineurin inhibitor given to kidney and liver transplant recipients. Prolonged-release once-daily tacrolimus (LCPT) is the newest formulation of this drug, but prescribing practices for tacrolimus across Canada are unknown.

Objectives: To investigate the use of tacrolimus across Canada, by determining coverage for the drug, exploring prescribing practices and factors related to decision-making, and identifying management methods for patients with rapid metabolism of tacrolimus.

Methods: A mixed-methods, descriptive study using survey-based data collection and qualitative interviews was undertaken. The medical director and a pharmacist from each adult kidney and liver transplant centre in Canada were invited to complete an electronic questionnaire consisting of 8 open-ended questions concerning their respective transplant programs' coverage for and use of tacrolimus. Interested participants completed a one-on-one virtual follow-up interview to explore experiences.

Results: A total of 28 health care providers participated in the survey, of whom 18 completed an interview, achieving representation from 15 (79%) of 19 kidney transplant programs and 3 (38%) of 8 liver transplant programs. Prescribing habits varied, with immediate-release tacrolimus (IR-Tac) being the most commonly preferred formulation (due to provider experience), followed by extended-release tacrolimus (ER-Tac) and LCPT. Most survey respondents (26/28) indicated that their centres used LCPT for maintenance but not de novo immunosuppression. The most common reason for conversion to LCPT was to reduce tremors or to address suspected rapid metabolism; barriers to uptake of LCPT included perceived disadvantages related to cost and coverage.

Conclusions: Prescribing practices for tacrolimus varied across Canada. IR-Tac was the most commonly used formulation, followed by ER-Tac. LCPT was used primarily in the maintenance phase for people with neurotoxicity or rapid metabolism, but there was a lack of consistency in how rapid metabolism was defined.

Background: Chloroprocaine has recently regained accessibility as a short-acting local anesthetic in Canada. It offers an alternative to bupivacaine, the predominant spinal anesthetic used at Vancouver Coastal Health sites in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Objective: To compare the recovery profile of surgical patients who received either chloroprocaine or bupivacaine for spinal anesthesia.

Methods: This multicentre retrospective cohort study involved adult patients who received chloroprocaine or bupivacaine as spinal anesthetic for short-duration surgery. The primary outcome was the time from admission to the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) to discharge from the PACU. Time from PACU admission to discharge readiness was also assessed, along with the perioperative variables of type of operation performed, duration of surgery, dose of anesthetic, dose of intraoperative analgesic, and number of days from operation to hospital discharge.

Results: The study involved 145 patients aged 30 to 94 years: 72 who received chloroprocaine and 73 who received bupivacaine. For the primary outcome, there was a nonsignificant shorter time from PACU admission to discharge for the chloroprocaine cohort (mean difference 36 minutes, p = 0.07). There was a significant difference favouring chloroprocaine over bupivacaine in the time from PACU admission to meeting PACU discharge criteria (mean difference 48 minutes, p < 0.001). Chloroprocaine was associated with significantly shorter surgery duration (mean difference 5 minutes, p = 0.026). Regression analysis showed a significant correlation between the anesthetic given and the time to meeting PACU discharge eligibility (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Use of chloroprocaine was associated with earlier time to patients meeting PACU discharge criteria. These findings support the potential benefit of chloroprocaine over bupivacaine in terms of achieving earlier PACU discharge readiness, although this difference did not consistently translate into earlier actual PACU discharge.

Background: Patient care ratios for pharmacists are not well defined in Canada. A recent work-sampling study involving 6 medium and large hospitals within the region served by Lower Mainland Pharmacy Services, British Columbia, reported pharmacist-to-patient ratios of 1:13, 1:26, and 1:14 in internal medicine teaching units, hospitalist or internal medicine nonteaching units, and surgical units, respectively.

Objective: To determine the pharmacist-to-patient ratios required to provide comprehensive pharmaceutical care to adult patients admitted to medical and surgical units in medium and large hospitals in British Columbia.

Methods: In this cross-sectional electronic survey study, participants were asked to provide estimates of the time spent on and the frequency of 17 comprehensive pharmaceutical care tasks identified in the previous study, which was based on a Delphi method. The survey data were used to calculate pharmacy staffing ratios according to the World Health Organization workforce calculator.

Results: Fifty-eight pharmacists responded to the survey, of whom 41 (71%) were from medium and large hospitals. The optimal pharmacist-to-patient ratios were calculated as 1:7 for internal medicine teaching units; 1:10 for internal medicine nonteaching, hospitalist, and family practice units; and 1:14 for surgical units.

Conclusions: The pharmacist-to-patient ratios calculated in this study, using only pharmacists' self-reported information, were lower than those found previously. Further research is required to determine whether completion of every comprehensive care task is necessary, or if staffing ratios should reflect combinations of comprehensive care tasks based on patient complexity. National consensus guidelines on pharmacist staffing ratios may be valuable, given the current lack of standardization of pharmacy staffing ratios in hospitals.

Background: Sugammadex, a selective relaxant binding agent, works by encapsulating rocuronium or vecuronium to reverse neuromuscular blockade. It is an asset in emergencies requiring expedient reversal of neuromuscular blockade, such as situations involving difficult airways. A prevalent concern relating to sugammadex use is its higher cost compared with traditional reversal agents, contributing to more than 20% of operating room drug expenditures at Hamilton Health Sciences (Hamilton, Ontario) in 2019/20.

Objective: To use iterative Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles to reduce annual sugammadex expenditure at Hamilton Health Sciences by 50% from costs in the 2020/21 fiscal year.

Methods: Five Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles were implemented (January to April 2021) to increase awareness about the cost of sugammadex and appropriate indications for its use. The organization's Department of Pharmacy supplied data regarding acquisition of sugammadex before, during, and after the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, which were analyzed quantitatively. A data set regarding difficult airways at Hamilton Health Sciences was analyzed alongside the sugammadex data to aid in understanding the need for accessibility of this drug.

Results: Use of sugammadex in fiscal year 2021/22 at Hamilton Health Sciences decreased by 75% from the previous fiscal year, without compromising patient safety or drug availability. Analysis of the difficult airway data revealed that both anticipated and unanticipated cases of difficult airway were still prevalent across all hospitals, which highlights the importance of maintaining access to and knowledge of how to use sugammadex in the setting of difficult airways.

Conclusions: This cost-reduction project showed that user-based program designs can have a meaningful impact on resource utilization. Additionally, the difficult airway data set emphasized the clear need to maintain availability of and capabilities for administering sugammadex, given the prevalence of emergency airway situations.