100% satisfaction guarantee Immediately available after payment Both online and in PDF No strings attached 4.2 TrustPilot
logo-home
Presentation

High Risk Drugs PDF

Rating
-
Sold
1
Pages
19
Uploaded on
11-05-2025
Written in
2022/2023

This document is a comprehensive summary of high-risk medicines commonly encountered in clinical practice. It covers key monitoring parameters, signs of toxicity, important drug interactions, and essential counselling points for each drug. Ideal for pharmacy, nursing, and medical students preparing for exams, OSCEs, or placements. Includes detailed notes on drugs such as amiodarone, digoxin, lithium, antiepileptics, methotrexate, and more.

Show more Read less
Institution
Course










Whoops! We can’t load your doc right now. Try again or contact support.

Connected book

Written for

Institution
Study
Course

Document information

Uploaded on
May 11, 2025
Number of pages
19
Written in
2022/2023
Type
Presentation
Person
Unknown

Subjects

Content preview

DRUG NAME: WARNING SIGNS:

AMIODARONE
- Signs and symptoms of hypo- or hypert
- Corneal microdeposits may develop - r
with vision. Drivers may be dazzled by
NOTES: MONITORING: night. If vision impaired or if optic neur
- Long half-life = - Thyroid function neuropathy occurs, STOP AMIODARON
50 days - Liver function - Progressive shortness of breath or coug
- Loading doses - Serum potassium (pneumonitis, pulmonary toxicity)
may be - Chest X-ray - Clinical signs of liver disease e.g. jaundi
required - ECG (w/ IV use) - Neurological effects of tremor, periphe
e.g. develop numbness and tingling in h
INTERACTIONS:
- Phototoxic skin reactions e.g. burning s
- Long half-life = potential for drug interactions to occur for several
followed by erythema, and persistent s
weeks to months after treatment has stopped
discoloration on light-exposed areas
- ↑ plasma concentration = coumarins, dabigatran, digoxin,
flecainide, phenindione, phenytoin
- ↑ risk of ventricular arrhythmias = amisulpride, atometine, ACTIONS REQUIRED:
chloroquine, citalopram, disopyramide, escitalopram, - Advise patient = shield skin from direct
haloperidol, hydroxychloroquine, lovefloxacin, lithium, and for several months after stopping t
mizolastine, mefloquine, moxifloxacin, phenothiazines, pimozide, or to use a wide-spectrum sunscreen
quinine, sulpiride, telithromycin, tolterodine, tricyclics - Warn drivers = may be dazzled by head
- ↑ risk of bradycardia, AV bloc and myocardial depression = beta- night
blockers, diltiazem, verapamil - Warn patients = clinical effects may occ
- ↑ risk of myopathy = simvastatin months after stopping the medicine

,DRUG NAME: WARNING SIGNS:

DIGOXIN
- Cardiac = arrhythmias, heart block
- Neurological = weakness, lethargy, dizz
headache, mental confusion, psychosis
NOTES: MONITORING: - Gastrointestinal = anorexia, nausea, vo
- Therapeutic Range = 0.8 – - Serum electrolytes (K+, Mg2+, diarrhoea, abdominal pain
2mcg/L Ca2+) = hypokalemia, - Visual = blurred and/or yellow vision
- Loading doses may be required hypomagnesaemia, hypercalcemia can
potentiate toxicity
- Renal function ACTIONS REQUIRED:
- Heart rate (>60bpm) - Advise patient = report imme
INTERACTIONS: to a doctor if any warning sign
- ↑ plasma concentration =
alprazolamamiodarone, ciclosporin, diltiazem, - Dosage forms have different b
itraconazole, lercanidipine, macrolides, availabilities (check SPC)
mirabegron, nicardipine, nifedipine, quinine, - IV = 100%
spironolactone and verapamil
- ↓ plasma concentration = St. John’s wort - Tablet = 50-90%
- Hypokalaemia (↑ risk of cardiac toxicity & digoxin - Elixir = 75%
toxicity) when concomitant administration with =
acetazolamide, amphotericin, loop diuretics or MAJOR ROUTE OF ELIMINATION:
thiazides and related diuretics - Renal excretion
- Drugs that impair renal function affect plasma - Hepatic metabolism to active
digoxin conc e.g. NSAIDs, ACEIs
metabolites

, WARNING SIGNS:
DRUG NAME:
- Toxicity [SNATCHED]:

PHENYTOIN - Slurred speech
- Nystagmus (uncontrolled repet
movements)
MONITORING:
NOTES: - Ataxia
- MOA = Binds to neuronal Na+ channels in their
- Serum conc
inactive state; prolongs inactivity - ECG + BP with IV use - Confusion
- Therapeutic range: 10 – 20mg/L (or 40-80 - Liver function - Hyperglycemia
micromol/litre) - FBC - Diplopia (blurred vision)
- Non-linear relationship between dose and plasma - Serum folate - Skin disorders e.g., rash, toxic epid
drug concentrations: small changes in dose/missed necrolysis
dose/change in drug absorption = large change in
- Vit D
plasma drug conc. - Blood disorders e.g., fever, sore th
ulcers, unexplained bruising or ble
INTERACTIONS: (leucopenia, aplastic anemia, meg
- ↑ plasma concentration = amiodarone, chloramphenicol, cimetidine,
disulfiram, diltiazem, fluconazole, fluoxetine, miconazole, topiramate,
anemia)
trimethoprim (also increase antifolate effect), metronidazole, clarithromycin, - Suicidal thoughts
telithromycin (avoid during and 2 weeks after phenytoin) - Low vitamin D levels e.g., rickets,
- ↓ plasma concentration = rifamycin's, St John’s wort, theophylline, ACTIONS REQUIRED:
itraconazole, ciclosporin - Advise patient = report immediate
- ↑ metabolism of corticosteroids, oestrogens, progestogens and coumarins
doctor if any warning signs appear
(possibility of ↓ anticoag effect but ↑ also reported)
- Anticonvulsant effect possibly antagonized by antipsychotics, mefloquine, SSRIs, - Caution when dispensing = brand-
tricyclics, and tricyclic-related antidepressants preparations.
- ↓ plasma conc. of aripiprazole, itraconazole, oestrogens and progestogens - Dose conversion: 100mg phenytoi
(reduced contraceptive effect), theophylline and tricyclics è 92mg phenytoin base
$10.37
Get access to the full document:

100% satisfaction guarantee
Immediately available after payment
Both online and in PDF
No strings attached

Get to know the seller
Seller avatar
melisachakarto

Get to know the seller

Seller avatar
melisachakarto The University of Nottingham
Follow You need to be logged in order to follow users or courses
Sold
1
Member since
7 months
Number of followers
0
Documents
1
Last sold
7 months ago

0.0

0 reviews

5
0
4
0
3
0
2
0
1
0

Recently viewed by you

Why students choose Stuvia

Created by fellow students, verified by reviews

Quality you can trust: written by students who passed their tests and reviewed by others who've used these notes.

Didn't get what you expected? Choose another document

No worries! You can instantly pick a different document that better fits what you're looking for.

Pay as you like, start learning right away

No subscription, no commitments. Pay the way you're used to via credit card and download your PDF document instantly.

Student with book image

“Bought, downloaded, and aced it. It really can be that simple.”

Alisha Student

Frequently asked questions