Abstract
Objective: To analyze potential drug interactions in patients admitted to the adult intensive care unit at a teaching hospital in the city of Sobral. Methodology: This is a quantitative, descriptive and retrospective study carried out at the ICU of a teaching hospital located in the municipality of Sobral, Ceará, in the year 2017. A standardized form was used to collect data. The drugs used by the patients were identified from the analysis of the medical prescription present in the medical records. The analysis of potential drug interactions occurred on the Micromedex, Drug.com and Medscape platforms. Results: A total of 60 medical records were analyzed and 639 possible medicinal interactions (MIs) with a frequency of 93.33% were identified. The MI was identified in greater numbers in male subjects with 65% and 35% female. These were classified according to severity in: moderate 401 (62.75%), severe 194 (30.36%) and mild 44 (6.89%). Regarding nature, MIs were classified as: pharmacodynamics, 566 (88.58%), and pharmacokinetics, 73 (11.42%). The research identified the presence of high levels of MIs in the prescriptions of patients hospitalized in the adult ICU. MI between midazolam and fentanyl, of moderate severity was the most frequent. Conclusion: The research showed that ICU patients have high prevalence of MIs in prescriptions. In the ICU, it is important to identify MIs seeking to reduce adverse events, hospitalization time and hospital costs.