Pharmacy Services Provided by Satellite Pharmacy in Operating Theatre Contribute to Enhancing Safety Management of Medicines

In the operating theatre,the highest priority should be given to the proper use of medicines and proper stock management for them in order to avoid misuse and to ensure safety since high-risk medicines,such as narcotics,muscle relaxants and anesthetics,are used.In addition,there is a need to reduce operating theatre medicine stocks to efficient levels in order to improve hospital economy and reduce the workload of medical staff.In November 2005,we established the first satellite pharmacy in an operating theatre at Mie University Hospital.Fulltime pharmacists working in it during the daytime started providing pharmacy services in which all the medicines used in the operating theatre came under management.The initiation of such services eliminated adverse incidents involving narcotics,muscle relaxants and anesthetics used in surgery.There had been an increase in the number of such incidents in the three years prior to starting the pharmacy services.By providing sets of medicines for individual patients and checking billing data for medicines used during surgery,pharmacists were able to keep tabs on all the medicines used in the operating theatre and by ensuring that all medicines used for surgery were invoiced,prevented an annual loss of 2,000,000 yen.Moreover,by preparing sets of medicines for pediatric open-heart surgery,pharmacists were able to reduce the workload of anesthesiologists.In conclusion,our findings suggest that the provision of pharmacy services by full-time pharmacists in the operating theatre is useful in improving safety management and raising the efficiency of medical care practiced in it.