Stability of meropenem in portable elastomeric infusion devices: which protocol should be implemented in clinical practice?

Although outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy can be a good approach to treating infections, a lack of data regarding antibiotic stability in portable elastomeric infusion devices restricts its safe and effective use. Actually, meropenem is used for prolonged periods above 24 h, and it is not physicochemically stable, which can compromise efficacy and toxicity. This work is of high importance to show the clinicians the real shelf life of meropenem when administered in portable elastomeric infusion devices.

Antibiotic stability in portable elastomeric infusion devices: A systematic review.

Purpose: Although outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) can be a good approach to treatment of infections, a lack of data regarding antibiotic stability in portable elastomeric infusion devices restricts its safe, appropriate, and effective use. The objective of this work was to complete a systematic peer-reviewed analysis of published articles about antibiotic stability in elastomeric infusion devices that provide evidence supporting their use in OPAT.

Summary: A systematic review following PRISMA guidelines was conducted in January 2021 to identify published articles about antibiotic stability in portable elastomeric infusion devices.

Analysis of adverse drug events as a way to improve cancer patient care.

Purpose: To define the signals that a new artificial intelligence (AI) system must emit to improve adverse drug events (ADEs) management in oral antineoplastic agents (OAA).

Methods: A multidisciplinary group of experts in patient safety was set up to define what signals the new AI system must emit to improve ADEs management in OAAs. The baseline data for the new AI system were generated through an observational and ambispective study carried out in a university hospital.

[Analysis of patient safety in the process of drug prescription in research.].

Objective: The increasing complexity of clinical trial protocols and the very nature of investigational drugs increase the likelihood of prescribing errors and require comprehensive control and monitoring of treatments. The aim of this study was to measure and analyze the potential risks of prescribing errors in investigational drugs.

Methods: A prospective, descriptive, and observational study was carried out in a third-level hospital in Madrid, for one month in 2017.

Grading the potential safety risk of medications used in hospital care.

Objective: The aim of this study was to stratify medications used in hospital  care according to their potential risk.

Method: The RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method was used. Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical subgroups were classified according to their potential risk.

A continuous usability evaluation of an electronic medication administration record application.

Rationale, Aims, And Objectives: The complexity of an electronic medication administration record (eMAR) has been underestimated by most designers in the past. Usability issues, such as poorly designed user application flow in eMAR, are therefore of vital importance, since they can have a negative impact on nursing activities and result in poor outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usability of an eMAR application during its development.

Technology-induced errors associated with computerized provider order entry software for older patients.

Background The introduction of new technologies in the prescribing process has seen the emergence of new types of medication errors. Objective To determine the prevalence and consequences of technology-induced prescription errors associated with a computerized provider order entry (CPOE) system in hospitalized older patients. Setting Patients 65 years or older admitted to the Departments of Internal Medicine, General Surgery, and Vascular Surgery of a tertiary hospital.

Effect of an electronic medication administration record application on patient safety.

Rationale, Aims, And Objectives: To evaluate the effect of an electronic medication administration record (eMAR) application on the rate of medication errors in medication administration recording (ME-MAR).

Methods: A before-and-after, quasiexperimental study was conducted in a university hospital that implemented the eMAR application in March 2014. Data collection was conducted in April 2012 (pre-) and June 2014 (post-) by two pharmacists.

Potential future risk of errors in medication administration recording.

Rationale, Aims And Objectives: The aim of this study is to adapt and assess the interrater reliability of a potential future risk matrix for medication errors in medication administration recording (ME-MAR).

Methods: The study was carried out in a teaching hospital. It was conducted in two phases.