Vancomycin Utilization Evaluation in a teaching hospital: A case- series study in Iran

Increasing antimicrobial resistance is now a critical point of human being in the world. Especially wide spectrum antibiotics resistance germs like vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) should be dealt as soon as possible as an emergency conflict. Our study tries to reveal the amount of irrational use of vancomycin in a teaching hospital in Iran. We elected the whole inpatients that received vancomycin between February 2007 and May 2008. Forty four out of those 45 patients had inappropriate indication and dosing regimen of vancomycin (97.7%). The most use of vancomycin was recorded in hematology – oncology ward and then Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Culture responses were negative despite great clinical evidence of infection. Vancomycin irrational use was high compared to other countries and it could be concerned as a major health problem by health policy makers and physicians to deal. However more detailed researches are needed to reveal the other aspects of this problem. Implementation of antibiotic protocols and standard treatment guidelines are recommended.