Contemporary medication of depressive states

Abstract

Introduction. In the last twenty years the rate of sale of antidepressant drugs has increased by more than 40%. The management of depression leads to extrapolation of clinical outcomes to ensure treatment efficacy and minimization of adverse effects. Purpose. To study the medication of patients with depression during 2021 -2022. Material and methods. The research was carried out in the Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery. The study included a number of 117 patients diagnosed with depressive syndrome, using medical data recorded in clinical observation sheets and patients' dispensing records. Results. Among tricyclic antidepressants, the most widely used drug was amitriptyline. Second generation antidepressants - Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors - SSRIs (fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, sertraline, escitalopram), have relatively selective properties for inhibiting serotonin reuptake at the presynaptic level and produced adverse effects such as digestive (35%), neurological (26%), sexual dysfunction (12%), seizures (3%). Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are the newest drugs to be used (venlafaxine, desvenlafaxine, duloxetine), which produced similar adverse reactions to the previous ones. Conclusions. The most used antidepressant drugs in medical practice among tricyclic antidepressants was amitriptyline; among SSRIs: fluoxetine, sertraline and escitalopram, and among SNRIs - venlafaxine.