| The liver is the core of metabolic activity in the body. Around 50% of the classes of drugs are known to be hepatotoxic. Thus prescribing medications in patients with liver disease is indeed a challenging task. Objective: The objective of the study was to study the drug utilization pattern and complications in Liver disease patients. Materials & Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted at Karuna Medical College Hospital, Vilayodi, Chittur and the study period of six months. All the patients of either gender diagnosed with liver disease were enrolled in the study and patient consent was taken, the data related to the patients of various types of liver disease were documented in a structured patient data collection form and analysed carefully. Results: In this study 125 patients were enrolled, out of which male (74.4%) and female (25.6%) were analysed. The mean age of patients was 53.81 years. Overall, 505 drugs were prescribed for 125 patients, out of which GI drugs were most frequently prescribed drugs (19.4%) followed by diuretics (17.02%), multivitamins (14.8%), antibiotics (13.8%), anti-hypertensives (13.4%), hepato-protectants (9.9%), anti-inflammatory/analgesics (6.7%) and less commonly anti-emetics (4.7%). Portal hypertension (39.2%) was the most common complication shown by the patients followed by ascites (24.8%). Diuretics were the most commonly prescribed drug for complications of liver disease. Antibiotics has been categorised as monotherapy (81.45%) and combination therapy (18.54%), among which cephalosporins (44.55%) were the most commonly prescribed monotherapy of antibiotics and piperacillin + tazobactam (34.7%) were the most commonly prescribed combination therapy among study populations. Conclusion: The study enlightens the significance of early detection and diagnosis of liver diseases and its beneficial outcomes that prevent disease progression.ddd |
