the pattern of antibiotic utilization in intensive care units of a tertiary care public hospital

Background: resistance to antibiotics is increasing. hospital overuse of antibiotics is a significant contributor to antibiotic resistance. a rational use of antibiotics is necessary to optimize the outcome of critically ill patients. the study aimed to examine the utilization pattern of antibiotics in the intensive care units (icus) of a tertiary care public hospital.methods: this observational study was conducted over eight months in the medical icu (micu), surgical icu (sicu), and trauma icu (ticu). data regarding prescribed antibiotics, including name, content, dose, route of administration, and duration of treatment, were used to describe the pattern and estimate the consumption. the defined daily dose (ddd)/100 bed-days of each prescribed antibiotic was calculated.results: the three most frequently used antibiotics in all the icus were piperacillin + tazobactam (107 patients), meropenem (74 patients), and metronidazole (72 patients). the total utilization of antibiotics was 46.94, 53.91, and 38.84 ddd/100 bed-days in the ticu, sicu, and micu wards, respectively. antibiotics with the highest utilization (ddd/100 bed-days) in each ward were meropenem (13.47) in the sicu, piperacillin + tazobactam (10.64) in the ticu, and ceftriaxone (9.49) in the micu.conclusion: the present study results indicated that the percentage share of different antibiotic drugs varied according to the type of icu and disease. penicillin combinations, cephalosporin, and carbapenems were the most commonly used antibiotic groups in all icus. high consumption of broad-spectrum antibiotics underscores the importance of stewardship programs to overcome the growing resistance to available effective antibiotics in icus.