A Prospective Audit of Cost of Sedation, Analgesia and Neuromuscular Blockade in a Large British ICU

Bottom-up costs of sedative, analgesic and neuromuscular blocking drugs used in the intensive care unit have not been reported. We performed a prospective audit of the cost of these drugs using a bottom-up approach by prospectively recording the daily amount of drugs administered to patients over a 3-month period. Of 172 admissions, complete data were collected for 155 (92%). Propofol and alfentanil were the drugs most commonly used, being administered to 136 (88%) and 106 (68%) patients, respectively. The total cost was 14,070 pounds sterling, which was 81% of the pharmacy figure (based on central purchasing). Ninety-four per cent of the cost was for drugs administered to the 50% of patients who stayed in the intensive care unit longer than 48 h. The median (interquartile range [range]) cost per day was 9.30 pounds sterling (3.60-20.10 [0-61.20]). This represents less than 1% of reported total daily cost of intensive care per patient.