Prescription of Ibuprofen and Diclofenac in Patients with Cardiovascular

Abstract

Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases are the first cause of morbimortality in the world and in Cuba and their treatment with cardiotoxic drugs results in an avoidable aggravation in the increase of cardiovascular risk. Several studies have shown that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs increase cardiovascular risk.

Objective: To characterize the prescription of ibuprofen and diclofenac in patients with cardiovascular disease.

Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional, descriptive, cross-sectional, prescription-indication type drug utilization study was performed. We reviewed 130 clinical histories of patients with cardiovascular diseases, from nine clinics of the Santa Cruz polyclinic in San Cristóbal, Artemisa, who were prescribed ibuprofen or diclofenac, during the period March to December 2020.

Results: Female sex predominated, average age was 64 years. Arterial hypertension without other comorbidity was the most frequent associated cardiovascular disease. The most prescribed drug was ibuprofen, used to treat pain associated with skin and soft tissue infections. Diclofenac was used to treat sacrolumbalgia. The association of ibuprofen with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors predominated.

Conclusions: The combinations used decrease antihypertensive efficacy and increase the risk of cardiovascular and renal adverse effects. Although the indications were correct, in both cases another analgesic with lower cardiovascular risk or non-pharmacological therapy could have been used. The indicated therapeutic scheme was mostly correct, although irrational excessive prescriptions were detected, which increase the risk of cardiotoxicity and compromise the analgesic efficacy of the drug.