Watch-Antibiotic: Teicoplanin: Usage Practices in Various Departments of a Tertiary Care Hospital, Coimbatore, Western Tamil Nadu

Background: Watch - antibiotics have high potential to develop resistance. Teicoplanin is one of the antibiotics given under Watch classification in Access, Watch and Reserve (AWaRe), 2023 classification. Aim of this study is to evaluate the usage pattern of Teicoplanin in various departments and the cost of Teicoplanin therapy. Methods: Retrospective study was conducted and medical records prescribed with Teicoplanin from Jan 2021 to Dec 2023 were evaluated for their usage pattern. Results: Totally 84 case records were prescribed with Teicoplanin during the study period. It was prescribed mostly in Nephrology department (28.57%) followed by General medicine (22.62%) and for genitourinary system (17.9%) infections. Teicoplanin was frequently used for Staphylococcus aureus (44 cases & 52.38%) infection. Out of 44 cases of Staphylococcus aureus, 36 cases were MRSA. Teicoplanin was used in 100mg, 200mg, 400mg and 600mg doses. Average days of Teicoplanin therapy was 5.95 days. Two different brands of Teicoplanin were used. Among them, cost of brand-1 is 11955.38 INR per patient and brand-2 is 10190.77 INR per patient. Nil adverse drug reactions were reported during the study period. Conclusion: Using Teicoplanin as Empirical therapy is not advised. Judicious monitoring is advised to prevent the overuse and misuse of Teicoplanin.