Abstract
Author(s): Arya Ashok*,Jeny Samuel, Boby Johns George, Noby Thomas and Betty Carla
The development of palliative care medicine in units in India has been impressive in the last few
years. A total of 15 patients were documented for a period of three months. This study investigates
commonly used drugs in palliative care unit. The study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in
Kerala, India. Patients were included randomly. It was a retrospective study. The inclusion criteria
were all patients in palliative care unit .Geriatrics not in palliative care unit were excluded. The
most commonly used classes of drugs were
opioids,NSAIDS,laxatives,sedatives,anxiolytics,antidepressents,antiemetics,corticosteroids,diuretic
s.These classes made up for 72percentage of all of prescriptions in palliative care units. The
substances used most frequently were morphine and derivatives of NSAIDS. Drug treatment was
related to age, sex and functional status of patient. From this study it was found that most common
disease conditions in palliative care unit was various cancers and osteoporosis.