Emergency Care in a Regional Hospital to Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Users

Introduction: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are one of the main causes of hypersensitivity reactions to drugs, keeping close temporal relation between the administration and the appearance of the suggestive symptoms. Objectives: to describe the epidemiology of allergic reactions to NSAIDs in the comprehensiveness areas of Campina Grande, Paraiba, Brazil. Methods: This was a descriptive-exploratory study focusing on NSAIDs. The research covered drug-poisoning notifications made by the Center for Toxicological Information and Assistance of Campina Grande, including patients living in the countryside, between 2010 and 2012. Results: The study population consisted of 485 individuals attended by an urgency and emergency hospital in Campina Grande, among these, 69 showed drug poisoning by NSAIDs, being prevalent in male individuals (53,62%), with an average age of 24,67 years (± 17,79). Regarding education 43,48% (30) had incomplete primary education, however 30.88% of male individuals were students. All occurrences took place in urban areas and among these, 95.65% (66) in the intra-household environment and 92.08% (67) due to normal use. Among the drugs used stand out dipyrone (21.74%), paracetamol (10.14%), ibuprofen, ketoprofen and ketorolac trametamol. The average time it took for the patient to seek specialized care was 9.76 hours (± 17.30). The observed events were characterized in overdose (68.19%), adverse reactions (21.23%), poisoning (1.52) and allergic reaction (9.1%). The conduct adopted for allergic reaction and poisoning was hospitalization for symptom control. Conclusion: It’s important when attending to patients, to recognize the difference between allergic and pseudo-allergic reactions, since the last one is dose dependent. The patients must be warned to stop the use, and to search for substitutive therapies.