Clinical pharmacists’ involvement in carbapenem antibiotics management at Wenzhou Integrated Hospital

BACKGROUND Carbapenem antibiotics are a pivotal solution for severe infections,particularly in hospital settings.The emergence of carbapenem-resistant bacteria owing to the irrational and extensive use of carbapenems underscores the need for meticulous management and rational use.Clinical pharmacists,with their specialized training and extensive knowledge,play a substantial role in ensuring the judicious use of carbapenem.This study aimed to elucidate the patterns of carbapenem use and shed light on the integral role played by clinical pharmacists in managing and promoting the rational use of carbapenem antibiotics at Wenzhou Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital.AIM To analyze carbapenem use patterns in our hospital and role of clinical pharmacists in managing and promoting their rational use.METHODS We performed a retrospective analysis of carbapenem use at our hospital between January 2019 and December 2021.Several key indicators,including the drug utilization index,defined daily doses(DDDs),proportion of antimicrobial drug costs to total hospitalization expenses,antibiotic utilization density,and utilization rates in different clinical departments were comprehensively analyzed.RESULTS Between 2019 and 2021,there was a consistent decline in the consumption and sales of imipenem-cilastatin sodium,meropenem(0.3 g),and meropenem(0.5 g).Conversely,the DDDs of imipenem-cilastatin sodium for injection increased in 2020 and 2021 vs 2019,with a B/A value of 0.67,indicating a relatively higher drug cost.The DDDs of meropenem for injection(0.3 g)exhibited an overall upward trend,indicating an increasing clinical preference.However,the B/A values for 2020 and 2021 were both>1,suggesting a relatively lower drug cost.The DDDs of meropenem for injection(0.5 g)demonstrated a progressive increase annually and consistently ranked first,indicating a high clinical preference with a B/A value of 1,signifying good alignment between economic and social benefits.CONCLUSION Carbapenem use in our hospital was generally reasonable with a downward trend in consumption and sales over time.Clinical pharmacists play a pivotal role in promoting appropriate use of carbapenems.

Training of clinical pharmacists in psychiatric pharmacy services during the prevention and treatment of COVID-19

A series of pharmacy services of clinical pharmacists at the Wuhan Mental Health Center during the prevention and treatment of Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19),such as participation in the formulation of COVID-19 prevention and treatment plans suitable for psychiatric departments,popular science of pharmacy,medical order review,real-time intervention,and medication education are summarized here.Due to the sudden public health incident,the service model of psychiatric clinical pharmacists should be addressed,as clinical pharmacists are an important part of the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric diseases.Among the majors currently available in the clinical pharmacy training base curriculum,no psychiatry major has been set up in China yet;therefore,in this paper,we provide guidance in psychiatry pharmacy for those who wish to integrate clinical teams.

Analysis for the vancomycin plasma concentration data in infants by clinical pharmacists

In the present study, clinical pharmacists monitored the blood concentration of vancomycin in children in the Infant Ward from 2013 to 2014, and the drug dose was adjusted according to its plasma concentration. Moreover, we analyzed the plasma concentration of vancomycin in infants in the hospital from 2013 to 2014. Simultaneously, we also discussed the necessity of regular therapeutic drug monitoring of vancomycin in infants, and the important role of clinical pharmacists was further explored. The results showed that it was necessary to routinely monitor the therapeutic drug in infants. Clinical pharmacists performed medication monitoring, which improved the effectiveness of vancomycin and prevented its adverse effects. In addition, it is a new treatment model for the participation of clinical pharmacists in the clinical treatment.

Individualized anti-thrombotic therapy for acute myocardial infarction complicated with left ventricular thrombus: A case report

BACKGROUND Presently,there is no established standard anti-blood clot therapy for patients facing acute myocardial infarction(AMI)complicated by left ventricular thrombus(LVT).While vitamin K antagonists are the preferred choice for oral blood thinning,determining the best course of blood-thinning medication remains challenging.It is unclear if non-vitamin K antagonist oral blood thinners have different effectiveness in treating LVT.This study significantly contributes to the medical community.CASE SUMMARY The blood-thinning treatment of a patient with AMI and LVT was analyzed.Triple blood-thinning therapy included daily enteric-coated aspirin tablets at 0.1 g,daily clopidogrel hydrogen sulfate at 75 mg,and dabigatran etexilate at 110 mg twice daily.After 15 d,the patient’s LVT did not decrease but instead increased.Clinical pharmacists comprehensively analyzed the cases from the perspective of the patient’s disease status and drug interaction.The drug regimen was reformulated for the patient,replacing dabigatran etexilate with warfarin,and was administered for six months.The clinical pharmacist provided the patient with professional and standardized pharmaceutical services.The patient’s condition was discharged after meeting the international normalized ratio value(2-3)criteria.The patient fully complied with the follow-up,and the time in the therapeutic range was 78.57%,with no serious adverse effects during pharmaceutical monitoring.CONCLUSION Warfarin proves to be an effective drug for patients with AMI complicated by LVT,and its blood-thinning course lasts for six months.

The Impact of a Clinical Pharmacist in the Emergency Department of an Academic Hospital in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Introduction： The department of emergency medicine （DEM） has a high-risk environment due to its unique and complex workflow. Many high-risk medications are ordered and administered at patients’ bedsides without being checked by a pharmacist first, which may lead to an increase in the incidence of patient medication errors （MEs）. Objective： The current study evaluated the needs of the clinical pharmacy service in the DEM at King Saud University Medical City （KSUMC）, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods： A cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted between Jan 2016 to Dec 2017 and the documentation of clinical pharmacist interventions was extracted from Esihi database. Results： A total of 2,255 interventions for 862 patients were documented. The recommended interventions were as follows： 645 （dose adjustments）, 108 （therapeutic substitutions）, and 354 interventions （initiating drug therapy）. Adverse drug reactions （ADRs） were reported in 16 patients, and drug interactions were managed in 26 patients. The DEM responded to 713 information inquires and 290 pharmacokinetic consultations. Drug discontinuations included 39 incidents （where unjustified drug prescription occurred）, 37 （where contraindications were involved）, and 19 （where duplicate therapy was involved）. The most common interventions were related to the following drugs： antibiotics （34%）, anticoagulants （15%）, and anticonvulsants （10%）. The acceptance rates for the EM clinical pharmacist recommendations increased from 93.9% in 2016 to 99% in 2017. The most common outcome for interventions was to optimize the therapeutic effects of the drugs that were administered （73%）. Reconciliation was done in 796 patients. Conclusions： The clinical pharmacy service plays a critical role in the management of patients in the emergency department （ED）.

Pharmacological Monitoring of Capecitabine in a Gastric Cancer Patient with Hyperbilirubinemia

Objective: To examine therapeutic drug monitoring in managing hyperbilirubinemia caused by capecitabine in patients with gastric adenocarcinoma with extensive liver metastases. Results: The initial liver function tests showed an elevation of transaminases (aspartate amino transferase 615 UI/l, alanine aminotransferase 385.9 UI/l), hyperbilirubinemia (total bilirubin at 246.1 μmol/l), and alkaline phosphatase at 694.6 UI/l. We initiated capecitabine based combination chemotherapy, and the clinical pharmacist conducted a full-course medication monitoring of the patient’s treatment including design of individualized dosing regimens and monitoring of bilirubin, infection, cancer pain, parenteral nutrition support and adverse events. After 21 days of supervision by clinical pharmacist and clinicians, the patient’s bilirubin and transaminase decreased progressively, with aspartate aminotransferase, total bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase falling back to 57 UI/l, 69.8 μmol/l, 307.2 UI/l, respectively. The patient’s condition improved significantly at the time of discharge, with the jaundice subsided, and the bloating relieved. Conclusion: Due to adverse reactions, capecitabine requires medication monitoring during use. The relationship between effectiveness and adverse effects is controversial. Adverse reactions should not be the sole criterion for the use of drugs. Clinical pharmacists can improve the safety and effectiveness of patients’ medications and promote rational drug use by monitoring patients, which may be useful to help the doctors identify the high-risk patients for taking efficient treatment strategy decisions.

Optimizing hepatitis C virus treatment through pharmacist interventions: Identification and management of drug-drug interactions

To quantify drug-drug-interactions (DDIs) encountered in patients prescribed hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment, the interventions made, and the time spent in this process.METHODSAs standard of care, a clinical pharmacist screened for DDIs in patients prescribed direct acting antiviral (DAA) HCV treatment between November 2013 and July 2015 at the University of Colorado Hepatology Clinic. HCV regimens prescribed included ledipasvir/sofosbuvir (LDV/SOF), paritaprevir/ritonavir/ombitasvir/dasabuvir (OBV/PTV/r + DSV), simeprevir/sofosbuvir (SIM/SOF), and sofosbuvir/ribavirin (SOF/RBV). This retrospective analysis reviewed the work completed by the clinical pharmacist in order to measure the aims identified for the study. The number and type of DDIs identified were summarized with descriptive statistics.RESULTSSix hundred and sixty four patients (83.4% Caucasian, 57% male, average 56.7 years old) were identified; 369 for LDV/SOF, 48 for OBV/PTV/r + DSV, 114 for SIM/SOF, and 133 for SOF/RBV. Fifty-one point five per cent of patients were cirrhotic. Overall, 5217 medications were reviewed (7.86 medications per patient) and 781 interactions identified (1.18 interactions per patient). The number of interactions were fewest for SOF/RBV (0.17 interactions per patient) and highest for OBV/PTV/r + DSV (2.48 interactions per patient). LDV/SOF and SIM/SOF had similar number of interactions (1.28 and 1.48 interactions per patient, respectively). Gastric acid modifiers and vitamin/herbal supplements commonly caused interactions with LDV/SOF. Hypertensive agents, analgesics, and psychiatric medications frequently caused interactions with OBV/PTV/r + DSV and SIM/SOF. To manage these interactions, the pharmacists most often recommended discontinuing the medication (28.9%), increasing monitoring for toxicities (24.1%), or separating administration times (18.2%). The pharmacist chart review for each patient usually took approximately 30 min, with additional time for more complex patients.CONCLUSIONDDIs are common with HCV medications and management can require medication adjustments and increased monitoring. An interdisciplinary team including a clinical pharmacist can optimize patient care.

Analysis of the status of clinical pharmacist pilot training in Chinese hospitals

A total of 626 questionnaires were collected and analyzed to study the current status of Clinical Pharmacist Pilot Training（CPPT）in Chinese hospitals.The training satisfaction of the training hospitals,trainees,and the trainee providing hospitals are all very high,among which the satisfaction of the training hospital is the highest.According to the results of the questionnaire, the most important training mode in the training hospitals＇ opinion is different from that in the trainees＇ opinion.Trainees prefer more initiative,practical,and participatory training and hope to learn from the wards round process,while the training hospitals are more inclined to group discussion and teaching.It＇s necessary to increase the number of eligible training hospitals, to implement one on one mentoring strategy in hospital pharmacist training,and to increase active learning in the training program. The result of this research would help to build more effective and efficient pharmacist training programs in Chinese hospitals.

Implementation of a novel train-the-trainer program for pharmacists in China

Clinical pharmacy services in North American are well implemented both in community phar-macies and in hospital pharmacies.In 2009 the Chinese government mandated the implementation of clinical pharmacy services in all secondary and tertiary hospitals by 2020.The mandate would require adequately trained clinical pharmacists.However,most pharmacy education programs in China have not yet incorporated clinical pharmacy into their curricula.Many pharmacists have been sent to countries,including the United States and Canada,to receive clinical pharmacy train-ing.Because of different health care systems,medical team dynamics,and language barriers,it became difficult for the returning pharmacists to apply the skills gained from this type of training.As a result,the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University initiated an international academic-run train-the-trainer program.The objectives are to provide adequate training for phar-macists to provide pharmaceutical care to patients,conduct clinical pharmacy-related research,and engage in scholarly activities.After evaluation of local readiness,the course commenced in 2014,and to date four trainers have received personalized one-on-one training by an advanced pharma-cist with 15 years of experience of delivering similar curricula in North America.We present the initial process evaluation and learning that will contribute to the development of clinical pharmacy courses at Central South University.

Impact of clinical pharmacist intervention on rational use of surgical antibiotic prophylaxis in thyroid surgery

In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the intervention effect of prophylactic antibiotic use in thyroid surgery in a large hospital. From 2004 to 2012, 70 patients who underwent thyroid surgery were randomly selected each year. The quality of surgical antibiotic prophylaxis （SAP） was assessed each year in terms of antibiotic ratio, choice, duration, timing, combination, route of administration and so on. The result showed that the SAP ratio was 100% from 2004 to 2010. With our intervention, this SAP ratio was decreased to 45.7% in 2011, and it reached 2.9% in 2012. The AUD was consistently greater than 38 before 2010, while it rapidly declined to 1 in 2012. The number of DDDs per 100 operations was decreased from 431 to 3 after the intervention. The average cost of antibiotic drugs per patient was RMB 350.65 in 2010, whereas it was decreased to RMB 18.51 in 2012. The average duration of hospitalization showed no difference during the intervention. This study indicated that implementation of a multi-disciplinary protocol and clinical pharmacist interventions could improve the rational use of SAP.

Participation of clinical pharmacist specialized in oncology in the treatment of a patient with advanced esophageal carcinoma complicated with hypertension: one case report

Clinical pharmacists specialized in oncology contributed to the safe and effective chemotherapy treatment for advanced esophageal carcinoma patients complicated with hypertension by participating in medication practice. Optimal therapeutic regimen was proposed, and pharmaceutical care and health education were provided based on the condition of each patient. By providing pharmaceutical care for cancer patients with their pharmacy knowledge, clinical pharmacists specialized in oncology can not only reduce the potential risks of chemotherapy, but also take into account of other accompanying diseases, thus improving the comprehensive treatment of patients. Furthermore, it deepened the understanding of the role of clinical pharmacy practice by patients and other medical workers. Involvement of clinical pharmacist in therapeutic practice could improve the outcome of pharmacotherapy.

Peking University Health Science Center Model of Clinica Pharmacy Education and Clinical Pharmacist Services

In the 1950s, clinical pharmacy emerged in the United States and gradually developed into an indispensable component of the clinical services system, The American College of Clinical Pharmacy defines clinical pharmacy as a pharmaceutical field that focuses on the science and practice of rational drug use.

Pharmacological monitoring and literature analysis of dagliflozin in patients with hypovolemia

In the present study,we aimed to explore the timing of dosing with dapagliflozin(DAPA)in patients with hypovolemia and the role of the clinical pharmacist in pharmacological monitoring.The clinical pharmacist was involved in the dosing regimen of two patients with hypovolemia using DAPA and advising patients with insufficient blood volume to withhold the use of the drug.They reviewed the relevant literature to provide a theoretical basis for clinicians and the role of clinical pharmacists in pharmacy services.When considering patients with hypovolemia,the clinical pharmacist can promptly identify that DAPA can reduce blood volume and provide rational advice and rationale for the patient‟s medication that is adopted by the clinician,resulting in an individualized dosing regimen for the patient.Clinical pharmacists are advised to pay attention to the dosing adjustments of DAPA when patients are in hypovolemia and to be more alert to the adverse effects that can result from its use.