An Observational Study Report on Adverse Drug Reactions of A Combination of Drugs in A Tertiary Care Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal

Abstract

Background: Drugs or proper medications can be a preventive measure against several temporary or chronic human diseases and physiological conditions. But sometimes, drugs can turn out to be a bane to human life rather than becoming a boon. Administration of certain drugs may lead to several undesirable detrimental effects to human health that may even be fatal if gone unnoticed. These reactions are more commonly referred to as the Adverse drug Reactionsâ™. Aim: In the current study, our major aim is to probe the adverse drug reactions of two particular drugs Paracetamol and Cephalosporin, when administered in combination or separately in a tertiary care hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal. Material and methods: Our study involves a hospital-based observational study where the adverse drug reactions reported by medical practitioners over a period of six months were assessed in patients administered with paracetamol and cephalosporin group of drugs in combination or separately. Results: In this study, 100 patients were administered paracetamol and cephalosporin drug groups both separately or in combination. Out of them, 36 patients developed ADR like hepatotoxicity, hypotension, anemia, vomiting, skin rashes as well as Steven Johnson Syndrome. Adverse drug reaction is found to be more common in women than in men. Also, middle-aged adults (15-65 years) are more prone to adverse drug reactions on the administration of a combination of paracetamol and cephalosporin drugs. Further, when the patients were subjected to a dose of a combination of paracetamol and cephalosporin drug groups, they experienced mainly vomiting along with some minor cases of hypertension, hepatotoxicity, and skin rashes. Conclusion: Our study clearly indicates that when a patient is co-administered a combination of both paracetamol and cephalosporin drug groups, the majority of the observed adverse drug reaction symptom is vomiting which is a signature adverse drug reaction symptom of cephalosporin drug group alone, indicating a clear predominance in symptoms of adverse drug reaction exhibited by cephalosporin drug group over paracetamol.