Background Despite the regulatory measures to improve the availability of medicines for new-borns, infants and children, extemporaneous preparations are often necessary to cover the needs of these patients. In Austria the prescription of magistral medicines is more common (approx. 3,4% of all prescriptions) than in the European average (1,9%)¹, yet a paediatric pharmacopoeia which sets standards for the preparation and use of extemporaneous preparations was missing so far.

Methods The project was mutually conducted by the Austrian Chamber of Pharmacists, Austrian Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine and the Austrian Society of General Practice/Family Medicine and funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMWFW-97.160/0001-C1/9/2015). 9.000 community and hospital pharmacists, paediatricians, dermatologists and general practitioners have been invited to submit commonly prescribed paediatric preparations. In a five step approach all submissions were assessed for completeness, pharmaceutical and medical correctness as well as level of evidence by the involved expert board (1 paediatric pharmacologist, 1 paediatrician, 4 pharmacists) and additional 10 external consultants covering 7 organ systems. Only preparations fulfilling the quality criteria for recommendation have been included in the compendium.

Results 1500 preparations have been submitted by 780 pharmacists, 227 general practitioners, 165 paediatricians and 3 dermatologists. 1175 were applicable for further assessment and 177 were recommended and included in the monograph compendium after assessment of correctness and level of evidence. These fell into 7 organ systems, namely 60 medicines for skin, 34 for the gastro intestinal tract, 20 for the respiratory system, 19 for CNS, 18 for ENT, 16 for circulation and kidneys, 10 for eyes.

Conclusion This project is an example of successful inter-professional cooperation with the aim to improve the quality of magistral formulations for children. The high number of excluded preparations underlines the need for quality control and standardisation.

Reference

1. Hofbauer P. 19. GD Jahrestagung, 18. März 2015 in Berlin.

Disclosure(s) Nothing to disclose