Chemotherapy in the Intensive Care Unit: An Evaluation of Context and Outcomes.

Background: Administration of chemotherapy to highly vulnerable, critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) is becoming more common, but the process requires significantly more resources than chemotherapy administration in specialized oncology settings.

Objective: To describe the context, complications, and outcomes of chemotherapy administration for cancer-related indications in ICU patients.

Methods: For this retrospective observational study, consecutive patients receiving parenteral chemotherapy in the ICU at the General Campus of The Ottawa Hospital between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2017, were identified using pharmacy records.

Adherence to guidelines and the screening tool of older persons' potentially inappropriate prescriptions criteria for colchicine dosing for gout treatment in beneficiaries of the Nova Scotia Seniors' Pharmacare Program.

Purpose: Colchicine is commonly used in the management of gout; however, older persons have higher risks of toxicity. Accordingly, the Screening Tool of Older Person's potentially inappropriate Prescriptions (STOPP) criteria for colchicine consider >3 months of treatment as potentially inappropriate in older persons. Recent evidence also suggests lower dosing of colchicine is as effective and results in fewer toxicities than high-dose colchicine.