Pattern of Drug Utilisation in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Every year millions of babies are born and a large proportion of them are admitted to the neonatal ward for various indications. Neonates particularly preterm and very preterm neonates are the most vulnerable population. There is paucity of information to guide rational prescribing in children and newborns.Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the patterns of drug use in newborns in tertiary care NICU, VIMS, Bellary, Southern India.Materials and Methods: Data from 100 Case records of newborns admitted in NICU from Jan 2013 - June 2013 was collected. Information regarding gender, gestational age, birthweight, length of hospital stay, survival status at discharge, and details of all drugs used was collected in the prestructured proforma and subjected to statstical analysis.Results: Among 100 study subjects 57% were females and 43% were males. Only 51% of them completed term. Majority of them were admitted with Perinatal asphyxia complicated by HIE (48%). The most common drugs used were Ceftriaxone(75%) and Amikacin(75%), Phenobarbitone sodium(39%), VitaminK(19%) and Aminophylline(11%).73% of newborns were recovered. The relation between gestational age, birth weight, indications and the type of drugs used was found to be statistically significant.Conclusion: Ceftriaxone and Amikacin are most commonly used drugs. Appropriate care was given to all the neonates to improve the outcome.