Trend of consumption of the antifungal agents fluconazole, voriconazole
and itraconazole in an adult ICU from 2009 to 2020 in a university
hospital in Salvador-Bahia
Abstract
Invasive fungal infections have a high morbidity and mortality rate in
Brazil. In this aspect, antifungal agents used in hospital units
represent the only treatment alternative. This work aims to to analyze
the trend of antifungal consumption in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for
adults, in a university hospital, in Salvador-Bahia. Retrospective
descriptive study, which evaluated the trend of consumption of
antifungal agents in the adult ICU based on the consumption records of
standardized systemic antifungals that were dispensed to patients over
the period and expressed in Defined Daily Dose (DDD)/100 patients -day.
The most consumed antifungals, in descending order were: Fluconazole
(91.58%; p= 0.1726) voriconazole (7.2%; p=0.9356) and itraconazole
(0.45%). Antifungals were widely used in the adult ICU of the
university hospital and the growing consumption trend demonstrates that
it is necessary to monitor and promote the rational use of these drugs,
since the inadequate and/or excessive use, in addition to burdening the
health system , can increase fungal resistance to the only agents
available to fight fungal infections.