Prescribing pattern of antibiotics for post-tuberculous bronchiectasis treated in a tertiary care hospital

The present study aimed at assessing the prescription pattern of antibiotics used for the treatment of patients diagnosed with post-tuberculous bronchiectasis in a tertiary care hospital. A prospective study was carried out at Government General Hospital located in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh during April 2011 to June 2011. A total of 120 in-patient prescriptions were analyzed and data was collected on a standard documentation form. Patients who are in the age group of 20 to 80 years were included in the study. The data collected was analyzed for the prescribing patterns of antibiotics based on the demographic profile of patients. The study results showed that among 120 patients, male patients were 92 (76.7 %) and female were 28 (23.3%), indicating higher incidence of the disease in male than female. Out of 120 prescriptions, 108 prescriptions contained double antibiotics, 12 were found with single antibiotic and 6 prescriptions with triple antibiotics. A total of seven different classes of antibiotics were prescribed either alone or in combination. Gentamicin was found in 90 (75.0%) prescriptions, ciprofloxacin in 76 (63.3%) and cefotaxime in 26 (21.7%) prescriptions. It was found that aminoglycosides, cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones were most commonly used in the hospital practice for the treatment as well as management of tuberculosis complications and associated post-TB bronchiectasis.