A prospective study of drug consumption and wastage during anaesthesia in a tertiary hospital

Abstract

The aim of this study was to estimate the amount of anesthetic drug consumption and wastage during elective surgical procedures in a tertiary hospital. This is a prospective observational study. Using convenient sampling, data was generated on all the drugs provided to the patients included in the study. The amount of drugs administered was documented, and the leftover in syringes/ampoules and unopened anaesthetic drugs at the end of each procedure over a three month period. The following drugs that were most wasted due to not being used after loading into syringe were atracurium 37.78%, morphine 26.33%, pethidine 23.33%, propofol 15.2%, pancuronium 15.2%, and diazepam 10%. The drugs which accounted for more than 50% of the cost of waste were propofol 36.5% and 0.5% for bupivacaine 27.8%. The amount of drugs left in the penetrated vial was most abundant with lignocaine with adrenaline 95%, followed by plain lignocaine 93.3% and ketamine 47.91%. Wastage of anaesthetic drugs does occur. Efforts should be made to improve efficiency as regards drug prescription and administration by anaesthetists.   Key words: Anaesthetic agents, unused, syringe, ampoule, drug cost, wastage.