Nafcillin sodium precautions
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Mohamed Moubarak, M.D. [2]
Precautions
General
Nafcillin should generally not be administered to patients with a history of sensitivity to any penicillin.
Penicillin should be used with caution in individuals with histories of significant allergies and/or asthma. Whenever allergic reactions occur, penicillin should be withdrawn unless, in the opinion of the physician, the condition being treated is life-threatening and amenable only to penicillin therapy. The use of antibiotics may result in overgrowth of nonsusceptible organisms. If new infections due to bacteria or fungi occur, the drug should be discontinued and appropriate measures taken.
The liver/biliary tract is the primary route of nafcillin clearance. Caution should be exercised when patients with concomitant hepatic insufficiency and renal dysfunction are treated with nafcillin. Serum levels should be measured and the dosage adjusted appropriately to avoid possible neurotoxic reactions associated with very high concentrations.
Prescribing nafcillin for injection in the absence of a proven or strongly suspected bacterial infection or a prophylactic indication is unlikely to provide benefit to the patient and increases the risk of the development of drug-resistant bacteria.
Information for Patients
Patients should be counseled that antibacterial drugs including nafcillin for injection should only be used to treat bacterial infections. They do not treat viral infections (e.g., the common cold). When nafcillin for injection is prescribed to treat a bacterial infection, patients should be told that although it is common to feel better early in the course of therapy, the medication should be taken exactly as directed. Skipping doses or not completing the full course of therapy may (1) decrease the effectiveness of the immediate treatment and (2) increase the likelihood that bacteria will develop resistance and will not be treatable by nafcillin for injection or other antibacterial drugs in the future.
Diarrhea is a common problem caused by antibiotics which usually ends when the antibiotic is discontinued. Sometimes after starting treatment with antibiotics, patients can develop watery and bloody stools (with or without stomach cramps and fever) even as late as two or more months after having taken the last dose of the antibiotic. If this occurs, patients should contact their physician as soon as possible.
Laboratory Tests
Bacteriologic studies to determine the causative organisms and their susceptibility to the penicillinase-resistant penicillins should be performed. In the treatment of suspected staphylococcal infections, therapy should be changed to another active agent if culture tests fail to demonstrate the presence of staphylococci.
Periodic assessment of organ system function including renal, hepatic, and hematopoietic should be made during prolonged therapy with nafcillin.
White blood cell and differential cell counts should be obtained prior to initiation of therapy and periodically during therapy with nafcillin.
Periodic urinalysis, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine determinations should be performed during therapy with the nafcillin and dosage alterations should be considered if these values become elevated. If any impairment of renal function is suspected or known to exist, a reduction in the total dosage should be considered and blood levels monitored to avoid possible neurotoxin reactions.
SGOT and SGPT values should be obtained periodically during therapy to monitor for possible liver function abnormalities.
Drug Interactions
Tetracycline, a bacteriostatic antibiotic, may antagonize the bactericidal effect of penicillin and concurrent use of these drugs should be avoided.
Nafcillin in high dosage regimens, i.e., 2 grams every 4 hours, has been reported to decrease the effects of warfarin. When nafcillin and warfarin are used concomitantly, the prothrombin time should be closely monitored and the dose of warfarin adjusted as necessary. This effect may persist for up to 30 days after nafcillin has been discontinued.
Nafcillin when administered concomitantly with cyclosporine has been reported to result in subtherapeutic cyclosporine levels. The nafcillin-cyclosporine interaction was documented in a patient during two separate courses of therapy. When cyclosporine and nafcillin are used concomitantly in organ transplant patients, the cyclosporine levels should be monitored.
Drug/Laboratory Test Interactions
Nafcillin in the urine can cause a false-positive urine reaction for protein when the sulfosalicyclic acid test is used, but not with the dipstick.
Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility
No long-term animal studies have been conducted with these drugs. Studies on reproduction (nafcillin) in rats and mice reveal no fetal or maternal abnormalities before conception and continuously through weaning (one generation).
Pregnancy Category: B
Teratogenic Effects
Reproduction studies have been performed in the mouse with oral doses up to 20 times the human dose and orally in the rat at doses up to 40 times the human dose and have revealed no evidence of impaired fertility or harm to the rodent fetus due to nafcillin. There are, however, no adequate or well-controlled studies in pregnant women. Because animal reproduction studies are not always predictive of human response, nafcillin should be used during pregnancy only if clearly needed.
Nursing Mothers
Penicillins are excreted in human milk. Caution should be exercised when penicillins are administered to a nursing woman.
Pediatric Use
The liver/biliary tract is the principal route of nafcillin elimination. Because of immature hepatic and renal function in pediatric patients, nafcillin excretion may be impaired, with abnormally high serum levels resulting. Serum levels should be monitored and the dosage adjusted appropriately. There are no approved pediatric patient dosage regimens for intravenous nafcillin. Safety and effectiveness in pediatric patients have not been established.
Geriatric Use
Clinical studies of nafcillin for injection did not include sufficient numbers of subjects aged 65 and over to determine whether they respond differently from younger subjects. Other reported clinical experience has not identified differences in responses between the elderly and younger patients. In general, dose selection for an elderly patient should be cautious, usually starting at the low end of the dosing range, reflecting the greater frequency of decreased hepatic, renal, or cardiac function, and of concomitant disease or other drug therapy.
Nafcillin for injection contains 65.78 mg (2.9 mEq) of sodium per gram. At the usual recommended doses, patients would receive between 197.34 and 394.68 mg/day (8.58 and 17.16 mEq) of sodium. The geriatric population may respond with a blunted natriuresis to salt loading. This may be clinically important with regard to such diseases as congestive heart failure.[1]
References
Adapted from the FDA Package Insert.