Abstract

Background: Antimicrobial agents are one of the frequently utilized drug classes in anIntensive Care Unit setting (ICU).
Objective: was to evaluate the meropenem utilization among Sudanese patients in the ICU in military hospital.
Method: A retrospective study was carried out in the ICU in military hospital during the period from September 2014 to February 2015.A well designed pretested questionnaire was used to collect the data. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS software version 17.
Results: A total of 135 patients’ files were encountered. The results showed that, no culture was done for any patient before meropenem used. Overall 80% of meropenem was prescribed empirically, Out of the patients who’s having meropenem, 7.41% were diagnosed pneumonias and 12.59% septicemia. Creatinine clearance was ranged from 50 to137 ml/min in a total 40.8% of patients used meropenem, so they didn’t need dose adjustment, while 59.2 % of them needed dose adjustment since their creatinine clearance was range from 50 to 10 ml/min. The therapeutic response was high 65.2% among the patients who using meropenem, while only 14.8% of them were not cured by this antibiotic. The dose was 0.5-1 gm meropenem twelve hourly for most of patients.
Conclusion: Meropenem use in ICU appears to be inconsistent with evidence based assessment criteria. The most evident inappropriateness was observed in empirical therapy. The study also detected other potential problematic areas where concordance with standard guidelines is yet to be achieved. Continuous medical education, functional drug and therapeutic committees and regular drug utilization evaluation programs could help in accomplishing the milestone of rational medication use.