Abstract

MARQUITO, Alessandra Batista  and  NOBLAT, Lúcia. Stress ulcers prophylaxis in an intensive care unit. Arq Med [online]. 2011, vol.25, n.3, pp.95-99. ISSN 2183-2447.

Objective: The aim of this paper was to verify the protocol for stress ulcer prophylaxis in an intensive care unit (IcU) from Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil, in order to investigate whether it meets the criteria currently established in the literature, and to verify its proper application. Method: A prospective, cross-sectional, observational study was conducted. Medical prescriptions of all IcU patients who met the inclusion criteria were analyzed daily during the period ranging from July to December 2009. Data regarding the use of stress ulcer prophylaxis, including drug classes and clinical indication, were collected. Results: The percentage of prophylaxis prescribed with no indication was 11% in August. Prophylaxis was not prescribed, although indicated, in July (5%) and December (0,5%). Conclusion: Our results show a rather wide use of stress ulcer prophylaxis without criteria. The medication of choice was pantoprazole. The studied protocol, despite meeting the criteria established in the literature, does not thoroughly stratify the risk factors that lead to gastrointestinal bleeding.

Keywords : gastric mucosa; physiological stress; anti-ulcer agents.

        · abstract in Portuguese     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )