DRUG UTILIZATION AND EVALUATION OF ERYTHROPOIETIN STIMULATING AGENTS IN HAEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Introduction: Anemia is most commonly associated with chronic kidney disease. In CKD patients, anemia usually occurs due to a decrease in the production of erythropoietin hormone by the kidneys. FDA has approved erythropoietin stimulating agents for the treatment of anemia. The main aim is to study drug utilization and evaluation of erythropoietin stimulating agents in hemodialysis patients.

Objectives:To study hemodialysis patients with various comorbidities for effective drug utilization.To evaluate possible drug interactions, adverse reactions, and therapeutic outcomes of erythropoietin stimulating agents in hemodialysis. To evaluate the therapeutic use of antihypertensive in various hemodialysis patients

Methodology: It was a prospective, observational study in the department of nephrology carried out on 110 patients for 6 months. The study was conducted in the Aster Prime hospital, Hyderabad. The data were collected through patient interaction, inpatient case sheets, and lab reports of enrolled patients in the study. Statistical analysis was reported using descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, and ANOVA.

Results: We evaluated the effectiveness of erythropoietin stimulating agents by measuring lab parameters like hemoglobin, hematocrit, iron and RBC over a period of 3 months and our results show a significant increase in hemoglobin levels from month 1 (Mean=8.75, Standard deviation=1.37) to month 2 (Mean=9.22, Standard deviation= 1.47) to month 3 (Mean=9.70, Standard deviation=1.50), a significant increase in hematocrit levels from month 1 (Mean=39.71, Standard deviation=2.06) to month 2 (Mean=39.74, Standard deviation=2.16) to month 3 (Mean=40.62, Standard deviation=2.19), a significant increase in iron levels from month 1 (Mean=130.74, Standard deviation=33.32) to month 2 (Mean=135.62, Standard deviation=33.06) to month 3 (Mean=138.49, Standard deviation=32.79), show a significant increase in RBC levels from month 1 (Mean=3.37, Standard deviation=0.44) to month 2 (Mean=3.54, Standard deviation=0.37) to month 3 (Mean=3.73, Standard deviation=0.44).

Conclusion: In our study by using ANOVA, we found out that in the lab parameters such as hemoglobin, hematocrit, iron, and RBC levels there is a significant difference over some time and the values of these parameters were increased over time by the use of ESA.

Based on the above findings, we can conclude that erythropoietin stimulating agents help improve anemia in CKD patients undergoing hemodialysis.

Keywords: Chronic kidney disease (CKD), hemodialysis, erythropoietin stimulating agents, anemia, blood pressure