Microsoft word - 08 medication monitoring iv to po interchange 02.13.doc
Pharmacy Department Policies and Procedures
MEDICATION MONITORING: INTRAVENOUS TO ORAL THERAPEUTIC INTERCHANGE I. BACKGROUND The oral route of administration may be ideal so long as the medication achieves the desired concentrations in blood and/or the targeted site(s) of action. Patients often start on parenteral therapy, but as their condition improves, they are often candidates for continuation with oral therapy. Available oral formulations have high oral bioavailability and equivalent potency. The conversion from intravenous (IV) to oral (PO) formulations of the same medication while maintaining equivalent potency is known as “sequential therapy”. Much of the beneficial data on IV to PO therapy interchange stem from the conversion of antimicrobial medications. Studies have shown that appropriate conversion from IV to PO antimicrobial therapy can decrease the length of hospitalization without adversely affecting patient outcome and may improve patient care by reducing the risk of intravascular catheter infection because of shorter line dwell times and less endoluminal contamination.1-8 Additional benefits of IV to PO conversion include reduced hospital cost, greater patient comfort and easier ambulation9. Furthermore, the use of oral medications may decrease nursing personnel time. II. POLICY This policy outlines IV to PO conversion considerations and specific criteria for the substitution and therapeutic interchange of medications as set forth by the SHC Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, the Antimicrobial Subcommittee, and the Antimicrobial Stewardship Team. III. PROCEDURES A. If the patient is being considered for an IV to PO conversion, the clinical pharmacist (and/or
Antimicrobial Stewardship Team in the case of antimicrobials) can examine the route of therapy and determine if it is clinically appropriate to perform a sequential, parenteral to oral therapy switch.
B. If the patient meets the approved criteria for transition to oral therapy (Section F), the clinical
pharmacist will enter the new order using “per Protocol” order mode and enter a standardized i-Vent in the patient's medical record detailing the conversion.
C. The covering provider will be notified when the sequential switch occurs. The provider has the option to switch back to the intravenous route if parenteral therapy is preferred. D. The Antimicrobial Stewardship Team will report findings and feedback to the Antibiotic
E. The Pharmacy Department will review and report findings and feedback for non-antimicrobial
medications at departmental meetings every quarter for the first year (2013), then every year thereafter.
Inclusion Criteria
Able to adequately absorb oral medications via the oral, gastric tube, or
Pharmacy Department Policies and Procedures
Not displaying signs of shock, not on vasopressor blood pressure support
Additional requirements for antimicrobials:
o Afebrile for at least 24 hours (temperature ≤100°F or ≤37.8°C) o Heart
o Systolic blood pressure ≥90 mm Hg (without vasopressor drugs) o Signs and symptoms of infection improvement according to assessment:
Improving WBC and differential counts
Persistent nausea and vomiting, diarrhea
Exclusion
Patient with the following GI conditions:
Criteria
o Ileus or suspected ileus with no active bowel sounds o Patient is known to have a malabsorption syndrome o Proximal resection of small intestines o High nasogastric (NG) tube output or requiring continuous GI suction
Wernicke's encephalopathy (for thiamine interchange)
Acute pain (for IV acetaminophen interchange)
Myxedema coma or if endocrine consulting (for IV levothyroxine)
Additional exclusions for antimicrobials:
Patient has a serious or life threatening infection:
o Meningitis, endocarditis, intracranial abscesses, osteomyelitis,
o Inadequately drained abscesses and empyema o Severely immunocompromised (solid organ transplant, bone marrow
G. Intravenous to Oral Dose Conversion, Pricing, and Bioavailability
Medication Intravenous Dose Oral Equivalent Bioavailability10,11
daily ($5.83) * restricted to feeding tube use only
1 Serum levels do not consistently correspond to the FAMOTIDINE dose or the degree of gastric acid inhibition
Pharmacy Department Policies and Procedures
interchange if for Wernicke’s Encephalitis
H. Antimicrobial Intravenous to Oral Dose Conversion
Medication Intravenous Dose Oral Equivalent
1 single strength = 80 mg TMP ($0.06/tablet)
IV. REFERENCES
Pharmacy Department Policies and Procedures
1. Nathwani D, Tillotson G, Davey P. Sequential antimicrobial therapy--the role of quinolones. J Antimicrob Chemother. Apr 1997;39(4):441-446.
2. Vogel F. Sequential therapy in the hospital management of lower respiratory infections. The American journal of medicine. Dec 29 1995;99(6B):14S-19S.
3. Davey P, Nathwani D. Sequential antibiotic therapy: the right patient, the right time and the
right outcome. The Journal of infection. Jul 1998;37 Suppl 1:37-44.
4. Bernig T, Weigel S, Mukodzi S, Reddemann H. Antibiotic sequential therapy for febrile
neutropenia in pediatric patients with malignancy. Pediatric hematology and oncology. Jan-Feb 2000;17(1):93-98.
5. Skoutelis AT, Gogos CA, Maraziotis TE, Bassaris HP. Management of brain abscesses with
sequential intravenous/oral antibiotic therapy. European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology. May 2000;19(5):332-335.
6. Pablos AI, Escobar I, Albinana S, Serrano O, Ferrari JM, Herreros de Tejada A. Evaluation of
an antibiotic intravenous to oral sequential therapy program. Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety. Jan 2005;14(1):53-59.
7. Buyle F, Vogelaers D, Peleman R, Van Maele G, Robays H. Implementation of guidelines for
sequential therapy with fluoroquinolones in a Belgian hospital. Pharmacy world & science : PWS. Jun 2010;32(3):404-410.
8. Wilcox MH. Implementation of sequential therapy programs--a microbiologist's view. The Journal of infection. Jul 1998;37 Suppl 1:51-54.
9. Kuper K. Chapter 29. Intravenous to Oral Therapy Conversion. Competence Assessment
Tools for Health-System Pharmacies Fourth Edition, Copyright, 2008, ASHP.
10. Micromedex online, accessed September 30, 2012 11. Lexi-comp online accessed September 30, 2012
V. DOCUMENT INFORMATION
This procedure is kept in the Pharmacy Policies and Procedure Manual
Denise Gin, Pharm.D, BCPS; Lina Meng, Pharm.D. BCPS; Craig Sterling, Pharm.D.; Paul Mohabir, M.D.; Thomas Weiser, MD MPH: 12/2012
Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee: 05/2012, 02/2013
This document is intended only for the internal use of Stanford Hospital and Clinics (SHC). It may not be copied or otherwise
used, in whole, or in part, without the express written consent of SHC. Any external use of this document is on an AS IS
basis, and SHC shall not be responsible for any external use. Direct inquiries to the Director of Pharmacy, Stanford
MEDICATIONS The medications used to treat asthma help relieve the symptoms caused by an asthma episode, and/or treat chronic inflammation in children with asthma. Campers will learn to identify their medications as Controllers or Relievers. Controller medications are used to prevent frequent asthma symptoms and decrease airway hyper-responsiveness. Reliever medications are used to
AK and the Histamine Problem Wolfgang F. Gerz, M.D., DIBAK Abstract One of the most important screening tests in Applied Kinesiology (AK) since the mid-eighties has been the testing with histamine 12X or the actual amino acid histidine to identify the “Histamine Allergy” (Schmitt;1, 2, 3 Lebowitz4). This screening has been very successfully used in the nineties in the German speakin