Background. Invasive fungal infections have a high
morbidity and mortality rate in Brazil. In this aspect, the antifungal
agents used in hospital units represent a single treatment alternative.Objectives. This study aims to analyze the trend in antifungal
consumption in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for adults, in a university
hospital, in Salvador-Bahia. Methods. Retrospective descriptive
study, which evaluated the trend of consumption of antifungal agents in
the adult ICU based on the consumption records of standardized systemic
antifungals that were dispensed for patients over the period and
expressed in Defined Daily Dose (DDD) / 100 patients-day. The most
consumed antifungals, in descending order, were: fluconazole (91.58%;
p=0.1726) voriconazole (7.2%; p= 0.9356) and itraconazole
(0.45%).Conclusions Antifungals were widely used in the adult
ICU of the university hospital and the growing consumption trend
demonstrates that it is necessary to monitor and promote the rational
use of these drugs, since the inadequate and/or excessive use, in
addition to burdening the health system, can increase fungal resistance
to the only agents available to fight fungal infections
Keywords: antifungals; intensive care unit; trend of
consumption