Stress ulcer prophylaxis upon discharge from intensive care units in an academic medical center

Context: Stress ulcer prophylaxis (SUP) has become the standard of care in the intensive care unit (ICU) but is often continued inappropriately at discharge. Aims: The primary aim was to evaluate the impact of granting clinical privileges to assess appropriate discontinuation of SUP in the ICU. Settings and Design: This study was a single-center, retrospective, observational study. Materials and Methods: Patients admitted to medical or surgical ICUs in January 2015 (pregroup) were compared to January 2016 (postgroup). Statistical Analysis Used: Continuous parametric data were analyzed with Student's t-test, continuous nonparametric data were analyzed with Mann–Whitney U-test, and dichotomous variables were analyzed with Fisher's exact method. Results: One hundred and sixty patients were included (80 per group). Over 50% of patients had documented home acid suppression therapy use (52.5% pregroup vs. 58.8% postgroup, P = 0.53) and approximately 30% had gastroesophageal reflux disease documented as a problem in their medical record (27.5% pregroup vs. 31.3% postgroup, P = 0.73). The rate of inappropriate continuation of acid suppression therapy was not different between groups (15.4% vs. 14.9%, P = 0.999). The major reason for appropriate continuation of acid suppressive therapy was the presence of a chronic condition that provided a reasonable indication for therapy (46.1% vs. 60.0%, P = 0.228). Conclusions: Overall we found no difference in continuation of SUP at ICU discharge, but this was confounded by a high rate of reported home acid suppression. Targets for education and improvement have been identified, especially the need for attention to documentation and medication reconciliation across the spectrum of patient care to allow for acid suppression therapy deprescribing. The following core competencies are addressed in this article: Patient care, Systems-based practice