In the article, we consider the side effects of Cefazolin.
The active ingredient in the drug is the component of the same name. This medicine is produced in the form of a yellowish lyophilisate powder and is used for injection.
Side effects of Cefazolin injections are not always manifested, but you need to know about them.
Therapeutic efficacy and spectrum of effects of the drug
The drug is classified as semi-synthetic antibiotic from the beta-lactam category. These substances kill various pathogenic bacteria and destroy their cell wall. "Cefazolin" can destroy many types of microscopic organisms, so it is referred to as a broad-spectrum antibiotic. In comparison with other drugs from the cephalosporin series belonging to the first generation, it is the safest medicine, since it has the least toxicity.
The main and at the same time the basic therapeutic effect of the drug is to destroy the pathogenic microorganism that caused the infectious inflammatory disease. Accordingly, this medication effectively cures inflammations and infections that are caused by microbes, on which it acts destructively.
What helps "Cefazolin" is interesting to many.
It is customary to use it in case of the occurrence of infectious and inflammatory diseases in patients caused by various pathogenic pathogens sensitive to this drug. Thus, it is used:
- In case of sepsis, peritonitis or endocarditis.
- Against the background of respiratory tract infections.
- For infections of the genitourinary system, including syphilis or gonorrhea.
- In the presence of infectious lesions of bones and joints.
- As part of the prevention of postoperative complications.
What are the contraindications and side effects? Cefazolin may not be taken by everyone.
Contraindications
What is indicated in the instructions for use for injections "Cefazolin"? The prohibition of therapy with the medication in question is introduced in a number of the following cases:
- During pregnancy and lactation.
- In cases of hypersensitivity to drugs of the cephalosporin category and other beta-lactam antibiotics.
- Not assigned to newborns.
With great caution, it is used against the background of kidney or liver failure, and in addition, with pseudomembranous enterocolitis.
Instructions for the use of injections "Cefazolin" for adults
The drug is administered jet or drip. The average daily dosage for adults is from 0.25 to 1 gram, and the frequency of administration is four times. The maximum dose per day is 6 grams (in rare situations 12). The average duration of treatment is ten days. For the prevention of postoperative infections, the use of the drug is carried out intravenously at 1 gram one hour before the intervention.
The maximum dosage in the presence of severe infections (for example, with peritonitis, against the background of destructive pneumonia, acute complicated urological infectious diseases, etc.) is up to 6 grams per day, while a single dose is administered after a short period of eight hours.
Injections for children
Children's dosage is calculated as follows: from twenty to fifty milligrams per kilogram of weight, depending on body weight and severity of the disease. In a particularly severe case, up to one hundred milligrams per kilogram. In case of kidney disease, the norm of the drug can be reduced from about twenty-five to sixty percent of the usual dosage. It is forbidden to mix this medicine in the same syringe with other antibiotics.
The duration of the course of therapy in the presence of an uncomplicated infection is usually from five to fourteen days. If the patient's condition improves, the interval between drug use increases, the dosage decreases. The amount of the drug and the course of therapy is adjusted by the doctor. When diluted, the vials must be shaken vigorously until complete dissolution is achieved.
To minimize the side effect of "Cefazolin", you must strictly follow the instructions.
Rules for injections
When injecting with this medicine, the general requirements for performing the appropriate medical procedures should be followed:
- They process the injection site with an antiseptic (seventy percent alcohol and so on).
- Use only a sterile syringe.
- Release air from the syringe in which the finished solution is located.
- Position the needle vertically to the skin surface and insert it deep into the muscle.
- Slowly press on the piston, inject the medicine for three to five minutes.
- After introducing the entire solution, the needle is removed, hold it by the edge, which is put on the syringe.
- They process the injection site with an antiseptic.
"Cefazolin" - side effects
In the framework of the use of the drug in patients, various undesirable manifestations may occur:
- Allergic reactions are possible, which manifest in the form of urticaria, chills, fever, rash, itching. Less commonly, bronchial spasms occur along with zosinophilia, exudative erythema multiforme, toxic epidermal necrolysis, angioedema, or anaphylactic shock. What other side effects can Cefazolin cause in adults?
- From the digestive system, nausea is quite possible in combination with vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, flatulence, abdominal pain, dysbiosis, candidiasis, impaired liver function (while patients have an increase in hepatic transaminase activity and hyperbilirubinemia). Rarely, stomatitis occurs along with glossitis, hepatitis and cholestatic jaundice, as well as pseudomembranous enterocolitis.
- Hematopoietic organs sometimes react with leukopenia, neutropenia, granulocytopenia, thrombocytopenia, hemolytic anemia, decreased hematocrit, increased prothrombin time, and so on. Side effects "Cefazolin" in children causes more vivid.
- The genitourinary system responds with impaired renal function (azotemia, increased blood urea, hypercreatininemia), anal itching, etc.
- Local reactions include phlebitis in combination with soreness along the veins and infiltrate at the injection site.
- Other side effects of Cefazolin include superinfection and candidiasis.
Drug interaction
Do not recommend the simultaneous use of this medication with anticoagulants or with diuretics. Loop forms of such drugs and drugs that block tubular secretion can increase the concentration of Cefazolin antibiotic in plasma. Aminoglycosides increase the risk of developing kidney damage. Pharmaceutically, this agent is incompatible with aminoglycosides. As part of the preparation of a solution for intravenous administration, it is forbidden to use Lidocaine.
special instructions
Patients who have a history of an allergic reaction to penicillins may experience increased sensitivity to cephalosporin antibiotics. With caution, the drug in question is prescribed to people who suffer from diseases of the digestive system (especially colitis).
During treatment with Cefazolin, a positive indirect Coombs test may occur. Using this medication does not exclude the possibility of receiving false-positive reactions to glucose in the urine. The safety of use among premature infants and infants of the first month of life has not yet been established.
Pregnancy
Pregnancy is considered a contraindication to Cefazolin therapy, except when it comes to the patient’s life. In-depth studies on pregnant women have not been conducted, since women in a position such are not carried out in principle.
Reviews on the treatment of cefazolin in children and adults
The drug "Cefazolin" acts as a powerful, and at the same time very effective antibiotic, in this regard, reviews about it are mostly positive. Often, the medicine is used to treat angina, when Amoxicillin is ineffective.
In particular, often positive reviews about Cefazolin are left by parents who managed to rid their children of any dangerous infection after a long period of use of other antibiotics, which for one reason or another were ineffective.
Adults who used the medication to treat acute infections of the genitourinary tract respond no less positively about this tool. The negative property of Cefazolin, according to most patients, is the obvious soreness of the injections. True, against the background of the high effectiveness of the antibiotic in question, people perceive this factor as a drawback that can be experienced and endured if necessary.
It is worth noting that negative comments about Cefazolin are quite rare. They are left, as a rule, by people for whom this drug did not help cure the disease or provoked a severe allergic reaction in the form of itching. Unfortunately, today there are types of microscopic organisms that are resistant to this medicine, and allergy is one of the undesirable effects of the drug, so this is not suitable for all people, which is important to consider as part of the treatment.