title: [Pharmaceutical care in a visceral surgical ward].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Medication errors and subsequent drug-related problems (DRPs) result from lack of sufficient information during the prescribing step. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the contribution of having a pharmacist participate in clinical routine on a surgical unit by studying DRPs, and the classification of DRPs in the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE) system.
  
  
  METHODS
  The pharmacotherapy of all patients of a visceral surgical ward was evaluated by a pharmacist in a prospective study design over a six-month period. The identified DRPs were classified using the PCNE system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In 29 131 prescription lines, 697 DRPs were registered. This corresponds to a mean intervention rate of 2.4 %. All DRPs were classified into the modified PCNE system with 910 causes and 1 148 interventions. The most frequent DRPs were "lack of home medication" (35.6 %), drug dosing problems (18.6 %), the inappropriate duplication of drugs of the same therapeutic group (6.7 %) and drug interactions (6.5 %). 78.6 % vs. 3.7 % of all registered DRPs were completely vs. near completely resolved by pharmacist.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We consider the PCNE system with the four-level of classification to be a practical and easy-to-use tool in the daily hospital setting. Although we did not notice clinically relevant impairments of patient safety, a pharmacist may support the drug therapy and improve patient safety in clinics supporting the free choice of the drug therapy by the physician.
authors.affiliation: Universitätsklinikum Leipzig, Chirurgische Klinik und Poliklinik II, Leipzig, Deutschland. rick.schneider@uk-halle.de
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ranft
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Heinitz
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Uhlmann
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hauss
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Frontini
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leinung
mesh_terms: D015331:Cohort Studies; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004347:Drug Interactions; D057915:Drug Substitution; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions / Q000517:prevention & control; D005858:Germany; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008510:Medication Systems, Hospital; D061214:Patient Safety; D010595:Pharmacists; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011446:Prospective Studies; D058996:Quality Improvement; D013503:Surgery Department, Hospital; D014781:Viscera / Q000601:surgery