UMP2002 introduction to BNF Flashcards
what is the ‘about’ section in ‘more’ in the BNF for?
- how BNF publications are made and how to use BNF
- gives details on up-to-date changes
what is the ‘guidance’ section in ‘more’ in the BNF for?
- guidance on prescribing, prescription writing, controlled drugs and drug dependence, adverse reactions to drugs, intravenous infusions, medicines optimisations, antimicrobial stewardship, special circumstances e.g. children, pregnancy…
what is drugs A-Z in the BNF for?
- describes uses, doses, safety issues, medicinal forms and considerations for every drug listed alphabetically
what is treatment summaries in the BNF for?
- contains info for treating specific conditions
e.g. under cardiovascular, there is guidance on what hypertension is and how to manage it
what is interactions used for in the BNF?
- search for all interactions to a specific drug
Case study using the BNF: 60 yr old man with breathlessness when walks 100m or up a hill, echocardiogram shows chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction,
what 2 drug groups would be recommended as first line treatment to reduce morbidity and mortality?
ACE inhibitor and beta blocker
( found in treatment summary for chronic heart failure in cardiovascular section)
using the BNF: what is the starting dose of ramipril for patients with breathlessness due to heart failure?
1.25mg once daily
(found under Ramipril indications and dose section)
what happens to the half life of drugs eliminated by the kidney in renal impairment, how will this affect time to reach steady state plasma conc (use BNF)?
- half-life will increase as will time to steady state
- half life increases because the kidneys will eliminate the drug more slowly
- as time to steady state is equivalent to 5x half life, this will also increase
( found in prescribing in renal impairment section in BNF)
what does PRN mean (BNF)?
- pro re nata
= patient can take drugs when they feel they need it - e.g. paracetamol or other less strong painkillers
- found in ‘more’ then ‘about’ then ‘about the BNF’ then ‘abbreviations and symbols’
using the BNF: in overdose paracetamol can cause liver damage, which blood test is used to assess whether antidote acetylcysteine can be given?
- plasma-paracetamol concentration
- acetylcysteine treatment should be given in patients whose plasma-paracetamol concentration falls on or above the treatment line on the graph
- found in ‘summaries’, ‘poisoning’, emergency treatment, paracetamol poisoning
using the BNF: give 1 drug that has a severe interaction with trimethoprim
- antimalarials (pyrimethamine), warfarin, dapsone, methotrexate, colistimethate
( go to interactions and search trimethoprim)
using the BNF, what are the medicinal forms available for sumatriptan?w
- solution for injection, spray, tablet
(find sumatriptan in drugs a-z and look at medicinal forms section)
using the BNF, what is a common or very common side effect of aspirin?
- dyspepsia (reflux, indigestion) and haemorrhage
what drug is recommended as the first-line treatment for prevention of migraines in the BNF?
- propranolol hydrochloride
- found in summaries, migraine treatment summary under preventative migraine treatment
using the BNF what is a contradiction of the use of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like sertraline?
- poorly controlled epilepsy
- they can lower seizure threshold
- under drugs a-z, sertraline, contra-indications and/or cautions
what does the BNF highlight as a risk with regards to breastfeeding and codeine?
- to be avoided as codeine is present in milk and mothers vary in their capacity to metabolism codeine
- could lead to opoid toxicity in infant
(under drugs a-z, codeine, breast feeding)
using the BNF, what is the approximate morphine equivalent oral dose of codeine 30mg?
3mg
- under ‘more’, guidance, prescribing in palliative care, pain management with opioids
- 100mg of PO codeine = 10mg of PO morphine
- PO = by mouth
= X 10 difference
