Neomycin warnings and precautions
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Warnings and Precautions
Warnings
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BOXED WARNING
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Additional manifestations of neurotoxicity may include numbness, skin tingling, muscle twitching, and convulsions.
The risk of hearing loss continues after drug withdrawal.
Aminoglycosides can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman.
Aminoglycoside antibiotics cross the placenta and there have been several reports of total irreversible bilateral congenital deafness in children whose mothers received streptomycin during pregnancy. Although serious side effects to fetus or newborn have not been reported in the treatment of pregnant women with other aminoglycosides, the potential for harm exists. Animal reproduction studies of neomycin have not been conducted. If neomycin is used during pregnancy, or if the patient becomes pregnant while taking this drug, the patient should be apprised of the potential hazard to the fetus.
Precautions
General
Prescribing Neomycin Sulfate Oral Solution 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.
As with other antibiotics, use of oral neomycin may result in overgrowth of non-susceptible organisms, particularly fungi. If this occurs, appropriate therapy should be instituted.
Neomycin is quickly and almost totally absorbed from body surfaces (except the urinary bladder) after local irrigation and when applied topically in association with surgical procedures. Delayed-onset, irreversible deafness, renal failure, and death due to neuromuscular blockade (regardless of the status of renal function) have been reported following irrigation of both small and large surgical fields with minute quantities of neomycin.
Cross-allergenicity among aminoglycosides has been demonstrated.
Aminoglycosides should be used with caution in patients with muscular disorders such as myasthenia gravis or parkinsonism since these drugs may aggravate muscle weakness because of their potential curare-like effect on the neuromuscular junction.
Small amounts of orally administered neomycin are absorbed through intact intestinal mucosa.
There have been many reports in the literature of nephrotoxicity and/or ototoxicity with the oral use of neomycin. If renal insufficiency develops during oral therapy, consideration should be given to reducing the drug dosage or discontinuing therapy.
An oral neomycin dose of 12 grams per day produces a malabsorption syndrome for a variety of substances including fat, nitrogen, cholesterol, carotene, glucose, xylose, lactose, sodium, calcium, cyanocobalamin and iron.
Oral administered neomycin increases fecal bile acid excretion and reduces intestinal lactase activity.
Laboratory Tests
Patients with renal insufficiency may develop toxic neomycin blood levels unless doses are properly regulated. If renal insufficiency develops during treatment, the dosage should be reduced or the antibiotic discontinued. To avoid nephrotoxicity and eighth nerve damage associated with high doses and prolonged treatment, the following should be performed prior to and periodically during therapy: urinalysis for increased excretion of protein, decreased specific gravity, casts and cells; renal function tests such as serum creatinine, BUN or creatinine clearance; tests of the vestibulocochlearis nerve (eighth cranial nerve) function.
Serial, vestibular and audiometric tests should be performed (especially in high risk patients). Since elderly patients may have reduced renal function which may not be evident in the results of routine screening tests such as BUN or serum creatinine, a creatinine clearance determination may be more useful.
Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility
No long-term animal studies have been performed with neomycin to evaluate carcinogenic or mutagenic potential or impairment of fertility.
Pregnancy Category: D
(see WARNINGS section)
Nursing Mothers
It is not known whether neomycin is excreted in human milk but it has been shown to be excreted in cow milk following a single intramuscular injection. Other aminoglycosides have been shown to be excreted in human milk. Because of the potential for serious adverse reactions from the aminoglycosides in nursing infants, a decision should be made whether to discontinue nursing or to discontinue the drug, taking into account the importance of the drug to the mother.
Pediatric Use
The safety and efficacy of oral neomycin in patients less than eighteen years of age have not been established. If treatment of a patient less than eighteen years of age is necessary, neomycin should be used with caution and the period of treatment should not exceed three weeks because of the absorption from the gastrointestinal tract.
Information for Patients
Patients should be counseled that antibacterial drugs including Neomycin Sulfate Oral Solution should only be used to treat bacterial infections. They do not treat viral infections (e.g., the common cold). When Neomycin Sulfate Oral Solution 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 Neomycin Sulfate Oral Solution or other antibacterial drugs in the future.
Before administering the drug, patients or members of their families should be informed of possible toxic effects of the eighth nerve. The possibility of acute toxicity increases in premature infants and neonates.[1]
References
Adapted from the FDA Package Insert.