<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold>Introduction</bold>. The associations of drugs that may interact with the statins resulting in elevated serum concentration of the statins are an important risk factor for statin induced muscle disorders. We aimed to determine the prevalence of these associations in all hospitalized patients that had been prescribed statins before/during hospitalization and to find out how often they are associated with muscle-related side effects.<bold>Methods</bold>. This prospective, non-interventional study performed in two internal medicine departments included patients with statin therapy before/during hospitalization. Data on each patient demographic characteristics, co-morbidities and treatment was collected from medical charts and interviews. We evaluated patients’ therapy for the targeted associations using Thomson Micromedex Drug Interactions checker and we ranked the identified drug-drug interactions (DDIs) accordingly. Each patient with statin treatment before admission was additionally interviewed in order to identify muscular symptoms.<bold>Results</bold>. In 109 patients on statin treatment we found 35 potential (p) DDIs of statins in 30 (27.5%) patients, most of which were in the therapy before admission (27 pDDIs). The pDDIs were moderate (20 pDDIs) and major (15 pDDIs). Of the total number of pDDIs, 24 were targeting the muscular system. The drugs most frequently involved in the statins’ pDDIs were amiodarone and fenofibrate. Two of the patients with pDDIs reported muscle pain, both having additional risk factors for statin induced muscular effects.<bold>Conclusion</bold>. The prevalence of statins’ pDDIs was high in our study, mostly in the therapy before admission, with only a small number of pDDIs resulting in clinical outcome.</abstract>

Introduction. The associations of drugs that may interact with the statins resulting in elevated serum concentration of the statins are an important risk factor for statin induced muscle disorders. We aimed to determine the prevalence of these associations in all hospitalized patients that had been prescribed statins before/during hospitalization and to find out how often they are associated with muscle-related side effects.Methods. This prospective, non-interventional study performed in two internal medicine departments included patients with statin therapy before/during hospitalization. Data on each patient demographic characteristics, co-morbidities and treatment was collected from medical charts and interviews. We evaluated patients’ therapy for the targeted associations using Thomson Micromedex Drug Interactions checker and we ranked the identified drug-drug interactions (DDIs) accordingly. Each patient with statin treatment before admission was additionally interviewed in order to identify muscular symptoms.Results. In 109 patients on statin treatment we found 35 potential (p) DDIs of statins in 30 (27.5%) patients, most of which were in the therapy before admission (27 pDDIs). The pDDIs were moderate (20 pDDIs) and major (15 pDDIs). Of the total number of pDDIs, 24 were targeting the muscular system. The drugs most frequently involved in the statins’ pDDIs were amiodarone and fenofibrate. Two of the patients with pDDIs reported muscle pain, both having additional risk factors for statin induced muscular effects.Conclusion. The prevalence of statins’ pDDIs was high in our study, mostly in the therapy before admission, with only a small number of pDDIs resulting in clinical outcome.

Drug-drug Interactions of Statins Potentially Leading to Muscle-Related Side Effects in Hospitalized Patients

Drug Information Research Center, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Department of Medical Informatics and Biostatistics, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Romanian Journal of Internal Medicine

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Introduction. The associations of drugs that may interact with the statins resulting in elevated serum concentration of the statins are an important risk...

Drug-drug Interactions of Statins Potentially Leading to Muscle-Related Side Effects in Hospitalized Patients

Published Online: Dec 10, 2015

Page range: 329 - 335

Received: Jun 19, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/rjim-2015-0042

Keywords
drug interactions, statins, myalgia

© 2015 Camelia Bucsa et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Drug-drug Interactions of Statins Potentially Leading to Muscle-Related Side Effects in Hospitalized Patients

Published Online: Dec 10, 2015

Page range: 329 - 335

Received: Jun 19, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/rjim-2015-0042

Keywordsdrug interactions, statins, myalgia

© 2015 Camelia Bucsa et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
drug interactions, statins, myalgia