Background and purpose: Stress ulcer or stress related mucosal disease (SRMD) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in intensive care units. No drug prophylaxis for SRMD increase the rate of morbidity and mortality. Unnecessary use of drugs results in adverse drug reactions and impose additional costs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the medications used for stress ulcer prophylaxis in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in Sari Bu-Ali Sina Hospital.

Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was done in PICU patients who received stress ulcer prophylaxis during 2014. Data and physiologic parameters related to stress ulcer prophylactic drugs, the dosage, dosing interval, and duration of medications were recorded. SPSS16 was used for data analyses.

Results: Stress ulcer prophylactic drugs were used in 40 patients of all 78 cases and ranitidine was the most commonly used drug (85%). The most frequent indication to prescribe these drugs were sepsis (20%), NPO (nothing per oral) with seizure (20%), NPO (15%), intubation (12.5%), and coagulopathy (7.5%). According to the guidelines, stress ulcer prophylactic drugs were correctly prescribed only in 42.5% of the patients.

Conclusion: In this study, most of the cases received stress ulcer prophylactic drugs with no true indication. Therefore, more practical notice is needed to act according the guidelines for reducing the unnecessary administration of medication.