DOBUTAMINE Solution for infusion Ref.[7899] Active ingredients: Dobutamine

Dobutamine doses must be individually adjusted.

The required rate of infusion depends on the patient’s response to therapy and the adverse reactions experienced.

Dosage in adults

According to experience, the majority of patients respond to doses of 2.5-10 µg dobutamine/kg/min. In individual cases, doses up to 40 µg dobutamine/kg/min have been administered.

Dosage in paediatric patients

For all paediatric age groups (neonates to 18 years) an initial dose of 5 micrograms/kg/minute, adjusted according to clinical response to 2– 20 micrograms/kg/minute is recommended. Occasionally, a dose as low as 0.5-1.0 micrograms/kg/minute will produce a response.

There is reason to believe that the minimum effective dosage for children is higher than for adults. Caution should be taken in applying high doses, because there is also reason to believe that the maximum tolerated dosage for children is lower than the one for adults. Most adverse reactions (tachycardia in particular) are observed when dosage was higher than/equal to 7.5 micrograms/kg/minute but reducing or termination of the rate of dobutamine infusion is all that is required for rapid reversal of undesirable effects.

A great variability has been noted between paediatric patients in regard to both the plasma concentration necessary to initiate a hemodynamic response (threshold) and the rate of hemodynamic response to increasing plasma concentrations, which demonstrates that the required dose for children cannot be determined a priori and should be titrated in order to allow for the supposedly smaller “therapeutic width” in children.

Tables, showing infusion rates with different initial concentrations for various dosages:

Dosage for infusion delivery systems

One ampoule or vial Dobutamine 5 mg/ml (250 mg in 50 ml) diluted to a solution volume of 500 ml (final concentration 0.5 mg/ml)

* For double concentration, i.e. 500 mg dobutamine added to 500 ml, or 250 mg added to 250 ml solution volume, infusion rates must be halved.

Dosage for syringe pumps

One ampoule or vial Dobutamine 5 mg/ml (250 mg in 50 ml) undiluted (final concentration 5 mg/ml)

The chosen syringe pump must be suitable for the volume and rate of administration.

For detailed information about suitable solutions for dilution please see section 6.6.

Dobutamine stress echocardiography

Administration in stress echocardiography is undertaken by gradually increasing dobutamine infusion.

The most frequently applied dosage scheme starts with 5 µg/kg/min Dobutamine increased every 3 minutes to 10, 20, 30, 40 µg/kg/min until a diagnostic endpoint (see method and duration of application) is reached.

If no endpoint is reached atropine sulfate may be administered at 0.5 to 2 mg in divided doses of 0.25-0.5 mg at 1 minute intervals to increase the heart rate. Alternatively the infusion rate of dobutamine may be increased to 50 µg/kg/min.

The experience in children and adolescents is limited to the treatment of patients requiring positive inotropic support.

Method and duration of administration

Dobutamine 5 mg/ml (250 mg in 50 ml) ampoule or vial

Only for intravenous infusion (syringe pump). Dilution is not required.

Intravenous infusion of dobutamine is also possible after dilution with compatible infusion solutions such as: 5% glucose solution, 0.9% sodium chloride or 0.45% sodium chloride in 5% glucose solution. (For detailed information for dilution please see section 6.6.) Infusion solutions should be prepared immediately before use (For information on shelf life, see section 6.3).

Due to its short half-life, dobutamine must be administered as a continuous intravenous infusion.

The dose of dobutamine should be gradually reduced when discontinuing therapy.

The duration of treatment depends on the clinical requirements and is to be determined by the physician and should be as short as possible.

If dobutamine is administered continuously for more than 72 hours, tolerance may occur, requiring an increase in the dose.

During the course of dobutamine administration, heart rate, heart rhythm, blood pressure, diuresis and infusion rate should be closely monitored. Cardiac output, central venous pressure (CVP) and pulmonary capillary pressure (PCP) should be monitored if possible.

Paediatric patients: For continuous intravenous infusion using an infusion pump, dilute to a concentration of 0.5 to 1 mg/mL (max 5mg/mL if fluid restricted) with Glucose 5% or Sodium Chloride 0.9%. Infuse higher concentration solutions through central venous catheter only. Dobutamine intravenous infusion is incompatible with bicarbonate and other strong alkaline solutions.

Neonatal intensive care: Dilute 30 mg/kg body weight to a final volume of 50 mL of infusion fluid. An intravenous infusion rate of 0.5 mL/hour provides a dose of 5 micrograms/kg/minute.

Dobutamine stress echocardiography

For detection of myocardial ischaemia and of viable myocardium dobutamine may only be administered by a physician with sufficient experience in conducting cardiology stress tests. Continuous monitoring of all wall areas via echocardiography, and ECG as well as control of blood pressure is necessary.

Monitoring devices as well as emergency medicines must be available (e.g. defibrillator, I.V. beta-blockers, nitrates, etc.) and staff trained in the resuscitation procedure must be present.

Symptoms of overdose

Symptoms are generally caused by excessive stimulation of beta-receptors. Symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, anorexia, tremor, anxiety, palpitations, headache, anginal pain and unspecific chest pain. The positive inotropic and chronotropic cardiac effects may cause hypertension, supraventricular/ventricular arrhythmia and even ventricular fibrillation as well as myocardial ischaemia. Hypotension may occur due to peripheral vasodilatation.

Treatment of overdose

Dobutamine is metabolised rapidly and has a short duration of effect (half-life 2-3 minutes).

In case of overdose, administration of dobutamine should be terminated. If necessary, resuscitation procedures must be carried out immediately. Under conditions of intensive care, vital parameters must be monitored and corrected if necessary. Balanced levels of blood gases and serum electrolytes must be maintained.

Severe ventricular arrhythmias can be treated with administration of lidocaine or a beta blocker (e.g. propranolol).

Angina pectoris should be treated with a sublingually administrated nitrate or possibly a short-acting, I.V. beta blocker (e.g. esmolol).

In case of a hypertensive reaction, dose reduction or termination of the infusion is usually sufficient.

With oral administration, the quantity absorbed from the mouth or gastrointestinal tract is unpredictable. In case of accidental oral administration, resorption may be reduced by administration of activated charcoal, which is often more effective than administration of emetics or performing gastric lavage.

The benefit of forced diuresis, peritoneal dialysis, haemodialysis or haemoperfusion via activated charcoal has not been demonstrated for cases of dobutamine overdosage.

Dobutamine stress echocardiography

If applying one of the common dosage schemes, toxic doses are not reached, not even cumulatively. In case of severe complications during diagnostic administration of dobutamine, the infusion must be terminated at once and sufficient oxygen supply and ventilation must be guaranteed. Treatment of angina pectoris should be performed with an intravenous beta-blocker with a very short-acting effect. Angina pectoris may also be treated with a sublingually administered nitrate, if necessary. Class I and III antiarrhythmics must not be administrated.

In an un-opened container: 3 years.

Once opened or following dilution: Chemical and physical in-use stability has been demonstrated for 24 hours at 25°C.

From a microbiological point of view, the product should be used immediately. If not used immediately, in-use storage times and conditions prior to use are the responsibility of the user and would normally not be longer than 24 hours at 2°C to 8°C unless preparation has taken place in controlled and validated aseptic conditions.

Keep the ampoules/vials in the outer carton in order to protect from light. Do not refrigerate or freeze.

Dobutamine 5 mg/ml (250 mg in 50 ml) ampoules made of colourless, neutral glass, type I Ph.Eur.

1, 5 and 10 ampoules with 50 ml solution for infusion.

Dobutamine 5 mg/ml (250 mg in 50 ml) vials made of colourless, neutral glass, type I Ph. Eur, with rubber stopper, Ph.Eur.

1, 5, 10 and 20 vials with 50 ml solution for infusion.

Not all pack sizes may be marketed.

In case of dilution the solution for infusion should be diluted immediately before use.

For dilution, a compatible infusion solution should be used. Chemical and physical compatibility have been demonstrated with 5% glucose solution, 0.9% sodium chloride solution and 0.45% sodium chloride in 5% glucose solution.

Any unused solution should be discarded.

Note: Solutions containing Dobutamine may have a pink colouration, which may become darker over time. This is due to a slight oxidation of the active substance. If storage instructions are observed (see also section 6.4 for Special storage instructions), there will not be a considerable loss in activity.

Immediately after opening the ampoule, there may be a sulfuric odour lasting for a short period. The quality of the medicinal product however is not impaired.