Emergency Drug Use Profile in an Indonesian ICU: Dr. M. M. Dunda Hospital

Abstract

Emergency medications are critical for rapid stabilisation of life-threatening conditions in intensive care units (ICUs), yet local utilisation profiles are often underreported and may limit evidence-informed procurement and protocol standardisation. This study aimed to describe the pattern of emergency medication use among ICU patients at Dr. M. M. Dunda Hospital, Limboto. A descriptive retrospective review of ICU medical records was conducted for the study period reported in the hospital database. Patient demographics and clinical characteristics were summarised using frequencies and percentages. For diagnoses, percentages were calculated based on recorded diagnosis entries because individual patients could have more than one diagnosis. For medications, utilisation was summarised as the frequency of emergency-medication items recorded during the observation period and presented by individual drug, therapeutic class, and route of administration. Among 25 ICU patients, the most frequently recorded clinical condition was acute respiratory failure, followed by other cardiopulmonary and neurological conditions. A total of 73 emergency-medication items were documented; norepinephrine was the most frequently used individual drug (26%), and cardiovascular agents constituted the largest therapeutic class (74%). Intravenous administration predominated, largely through syringe pump delivery, reflecting the need for continuous titration in critically ill patients. These findings provide a baseline description of emergency medication utilisation in this ICU and may support hospital-level planning for stock prioritisation, syringe-pump readiness, and medication-use governance for high-alert emergency drugs.