Background and Aim:Medication Errors can result in drug-related problems (DRPs). Insight into the frequency, type, and severity of DRPs could help reduce their incidence. The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of admissions as a result of DRPs at the Emergency Department (ED) of a university hospital in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.Materials and Methods:Files of suspected cases of DRPs reporting to ED in the year 2012 were scrutinized. Suspicion arose from the hospital record system based on Diagnosis Code Numbers (ICD-9-CM, Professional 2010) and from triggers, such as some drugs, laboratory tests, and signs and symptoms pointing to DRPs.Results:Of 5574 admissions, 253 (4.5%) were DRPs and were categorized as: Overdose toxicity and side effects of drugs 50 (19.8%), drug-interactions 29 (11.5%), accidental and suicidal drug ingestions 26 (10.3%), drug abuse 18 (7.1%), drug allergy 10 (4%), super-infections 8 (3.2%), and noncompliance to treatment 112 (44.3%). About 70% of DRPs were preventable; 67 (26.5%) required hospital admission for 7-102 days and 10 (4%) died.Conclusions:Noncompliance to treatment, overdose toxicity, drug interactions, and drug abuse are important causes of hospital admissions as a result of DRPs. Awareness of prescribers to the problem and their education would help to prevent them and improve patient care.

Objectives:To determine the accuracy of the Broselow tape on estimating body weights of selected Saudi children.Methods:This is prospective study of children aged 7 days to 13 years who attended the Emergency Department of King Fahd Hospital of the University, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia, from June 2015 to September 2015. Only children <34 kg were enrolled for the study and children with triage categories I and II were eliminated to avoid delay in providing appropriate treatment in these circumstances.Results:The relationship between the actual and tape estimated body weights showed a correlation coefficient of 0.945 (p<0.001) for all children. When adjusting the correlation coefficient related to weight groups, the correlation coefficient was 0.911 (p<0.001) for children with body weights between 10 to 25 kg.Conclusion:The Broselow tape measurements do not provide satisfactory results for all children in the selected population, but do provide highly correlated measurements for those children with body weights between 10 and 25 kg.

Methanol toxicity remains a common problem in developing countries including Saudi Arabia. However, it is much less available than other toxins; thus, clinical suspicion and correlation play pivotal roles in diagnosis. On the other hand, paracetamol is widely available and overdose/toxicity is highly suspected especially in young females. Diagnosis of methanol toxicity can be difficult in cases where history is not readily available and it requires a high degree of suspicion, especially when ingestion of another substance is revealed first as should not preclude the possibility of co-ingestion.We report a case of a medically free 26 year old woman who was brought to the Emergency Department (ED) of our hospital with a history of ingestion of a massive amount of paracetamol tablets and a concurrent abdominal pain with vomiting. After arrival, she became unresponsive with Glasgow Coma score (GCS) of 8/15 and was mechanically ventilated. Initial laboratory investigations identify the paracetamol level of 1200 ug/ml and a significantly high anion gap metabolic acidosis. Owing to the suspicious circumstances and the depth of acidosis, a coingestion of methanol and ethylene glycol was suspected. Upon further evaluation, osmolal gap was found to be significantly high as well. Since neither volatile compound screening nor Fomepizole were available in our hospital, an urgent N-acetylcysteine and sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO 3 ) were started alongside hemodialysis. Subsequent brain computed tomography (CT) and magnetic reasoning imaging (MRI) revealed changes in putamen and basal ganglia most consistent with methanol toxicity. She was successively extubated on day four of hospitalization with residual visual deficits that had resolved eventually after several followups.

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Introduction: The internet has been widely available with 18 million users in Saudi Arabia alone. The rapid growth of internet use has proven to effect healthcare. The main objective was to determine a correlation between health-related information (HRI) website use & healthcare facility visits in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.Methodology: This study was designed as a survey-based cross sectional study involving the population of the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. Data was collected by distributing a validated survey via an online survey application over a 4-month period. It consisted of demographic data and questions concerning internet use for HRI. Logistic regression was used to establish a correlation between internet use for HRI & healthcare facility visits and to see influencing factors.Results: From the 1095 replies, 788 fit our inclusion criteria. 90% of our subjects have used the internet for HRI using mainly General medical websites 47.9%, Social Media 20.17%, Forums 19.16% and government websites 12.69%. We found 52.27% have used HRI websites to diagnose & treat their own medical conditions without professional medical advice. Visiting healthcare facilities after reading online HRI occurred 62.2% of the time, while the remaining did not due to being reassured of their condition. Outpatient clinics were most visited at 57.63% followed by ER & Pharmacy visits at 21.11% each. Those who have used the internet for HRI were more likely to visit a healthcare facility than those who haven't (OR(95%CI)) 2.05(1.24-3.36) (p-value<0.05).Conclusions: There seems to be a correlation between HRI website use & healthcare facility visits, which is influenced by level of education & occupation status.