USE OF ANTIBIOTICS IN PATIENTS HOSPITALIZED IN THE INTERNAL MEDICINE WARD OF A REFERENCE HOSPITAL – 2025

Abstract

Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance is a growing public health problem, aggravated by the inappropriate prescription of antibiotics. Objective: To describe the characteristics of antibiotic prescriptions in patients hospitalized in the Internal Medicine Ward of the General Pediatric Hospital Niños de Acosta Ñu from April to October 2024. Methodology: An observational, descriptive, retrospective, and cross-sectional study was conducted. The HIS system database was reviewed during the study period. Inclusion criteria were patients aged 0 to 18 years, hospitalized in the internal medicine ward, who received antibiotic therapy during hospitalization and had complete medical records. Patients who received prophylactic antibiotics, mental health patients, and ambulatory surgery patients were excluded. A non-probabilistic consecutive case sampling method was used. Variables analyzed included demographic data, diagnosis, comorbidities, collection and results of biological cultures, type, route, and duration of prescribed antibiotics. Results: A total of 320 patients were analyzed, 53.4% were male, with a median age of 9 years. Most patients (73.4%) came from the Central Department. The most common comorbidities were encephalopathies (27.2%) and heart diseases (9.1%). The main diagnoses were pneumonia (46.2%), cellulitis (11.8%), and urinary tract infections (10.9%). The most frequently isolated microorganisms were Escherichia coli (9.6%) and Staphylococcus aureus (9.1%). The most commonly prescribed antibiotics were ceftriaxone (29.1%) and amoxicillin-sulbactam (22.2%), administered intravenously in 98% of cases. The median duration of antibiotic therapy was 3 days. Conclusion: The most frequently used antibiotics were ceftriaxone, amoxicillin-sulbactam, and clindamycin. The most common diagnoses were pneumonia, cellulitis, and urinary tract infections, with a predominance of intravenous administration and an average treatment duration of three days.