Profile of medicines used via oral and gastrointestinal catheter in a Walk-in Service.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the profile of drugs prescribed via oral and gastrointestinal catheter in a Walk-in Service of a University Hospital.

METHOD: Quantitative cross-sectional study in which data were collected from the medical records of hospitalized patients using medication via oral or gastrointestinal catheter at least once a day between April and October 2015. The analysis was performed through descriptive statistics.

RESULTS: Out of 568 prescriptions (total), there were 143 different medications. The pharmaceutical form with the greatest number of prescriptions was solid (95.8%), of which 46.1% were simple tablets. The oral route had the highest number of administrations (97.3%). The most prescribed drug class was of anti-infectives (25.9%), but the Omeprazole drug was the most prescribed in the study (40%).

CONCLUSION: There are indications that enable rethinking the care practice and establishing criteria and norms for contributing to the safety and efficacy of services provided in healthcare, especially regarding the preparation and administration of medications via gastrointestinal catheter.