title: Epidemiology of adverse drug reactions in intensive care units. A multicentre prospective survey. Italian Group on Intensive Care Evaluation (IGICE).
abstract: Clinically relevant events possibly attributable to drug exposure have been monitored prospectively over a period of six months in 27 general intensive care units. Fifty-four events attributed to drugs were reported in 51 patients during their stay in hospital, corresponding to an overall incidence of 1.35%. The behaviour of the physicians following attribution of the events to a prescribed drug is analyzed and discussed in detail with respect to its relationship to the quality and severity of the reaction, and the classes of drugs. Twenty-four of the 4537 monitored admissions during the six months were due to life-threatening emergencies linked to the administration of drugs (14) and radio-contrast media (10) (overall incidence 0.5%). While the clinical burden attributable to adverse drug reactions in Intensive Care Units appears to be relatively small, the analysis shows that there is ample room for a greater reduction in their incidence.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; D004630:Emergencies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011868:Radioisotopes / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D011868:Radioisotopes