Background Drug related problems (DRPs) are a system dysfunction that occurs due to complex drug regimens. This pilot program was conducted on patients after a femur neck fracture admitted to the orthopaedic ward. There is a great variety of papers published in the field of DRPs but none that focus on the said population. During hospitalisation, against a background of numerous co-morbidities, patient treatment focuses on the acute problem. Hence a breeding ground is created for DRPs.

Purpose To identify and characterise DRPs in an effort to prevent and treat them, thus improving patient safety and quality of care.

Materials and methods The DRPs identified were characterised using the Cipolle & Strand classification, the probability of an adverse reaction (ADR) assessed with the Naranjo Scale and the possibility of a drug-drug interaction (DI) with the Hansten & Horn scale. The severity of ADR/DI was calculated using the Hartwing & Seigel scale. The analytical tests conducted include the Chi-square and the Spearman correlation.

Results The clinical pharmacist reviewed 45 patient records and identified 113 DRPs; 27% pertained to indication, 35% to safety, 23% to documentation and 4% to monitoring. Upon division of the DRPs according to drug groups 26% were gastrointestinal, 13% anti-platelets or anticoagulant, 25% cardiovascular, 24% central nervous system, 4% musculoskeletal, 3% hormonal and 3% anti-infective agents. Additional results will be presented at the conference.

Conclusions Preliminary results from the pilot reinforce the importance of the issue and influenced the initiation of a full scale trial and an institutional policy to treat DRPs. Furthermore, these results instigated a change in the process of care by permanently allocating a clinical pharmacist to the orthopaedic ward.

No conflict of interest.