Impact of a perioperative protocol for Parkinson's disease patients on use of contraindicated drugs

Abstract

Introduction During surgical admissions, the use of antidopaminergic drugs is associated with increased morbimortality and hospital stay in patients with Parkinson&apos;s disease (PD) and other parkinsonisms. We implemented a protocol to ensure adequate perioperative pharmacological management in our center, including educational sessions and complementary tools, such as an electronic Pharmacological Alert and a Patient Information Sheet. Objective The objective of this study was to analyze the changes in the prescription of contraindicated medications to PD or parkinsonism patients admitted for surgery, in the three years following implementation of the protocol, and to establish the compliance with the protocol among the medical staff involved in their hospital care over the same period. Methods This is an observational, analytical, prospective study with a before–after design. Results Prescription of contraindicated drugs decreased significantly over the study period (from 57.8% to 20.6%; p<0.001). Patients without an activated Pharmacological Alert had a 13.31 times higher risk of being prescribed contraindicated drugs than patients with such an alert (p<0.001). Neurologists and neurosurgeons used the protocol tools more than Emergency Department surgeons. There was very high compliance with the protocol in admissions for deep brain stimulation and related surgeries. Conclusions The protocol reduced the prescription of contraindicated drugs to PD and parkinsonism patients during their surgical admissions in our center. The Pharmacological Alert and Neurology clinics played a crucial role