Osmitrol Side Effects

Generic Name: mannitol ,mannitol

Please note - some side effects for Osmitrol may not be reported. Always consult your doctor or healthcare specialist for medical advice. You may also report side effects to the FDA at http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/ or 1-800-FDA-1088 (1-800-332-1088).

Side Effects of Osmitrol - for the Consumer

Osmitrol

All medicines may cause side effects, but many people have no, or minor, side effects. Check with your doctor if any of these most COMMON side effects persist or become bothersome when using Osmitrol:

Increased urination; nausea; runny nose; vomiting.

Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); blurred vision; chest pain; chills or fever; confusion; decreased alertness; difficulty urinating; extreme dizziness; extreme thirst or dry mouth; fast or irregular heartbeat; headache; muscle cramps; pain, redness, or swelling at the injection site; weakness.

Osmitrol Side Effects - for the Professional

Osmitrol

Extensive use of mannitol over the last several decades has produced recorded adverse events, in a variety of clinical settings, that are isolated or idiosyncratic in nature. None of these adverse reactions have occurred with any great frequency nor with any security in attributing them to mannitol.

The inability to clearly exclude the drug related nature of such events in these isolated reports prompts the necessity to list the reactions that have been observed in patients during or following mannitol infusion. In this fashion, patients have exhibited nausea, vomiting, rhinitis, local pain, skin necrosis and thrombophlebitis at the site of injection, chills, dizziness, urticaria, hypotension, hypertension, tachycardia, fever and angina-like chest pains.

Of far greater clinical significance is a variety of events that are related to inappropriate recognition and monitoring of fluid shifts. These are not intrinsic adverse reactions to the drug but the consequence of manipulating osmolarity by any agency in a therapeutically inappropriate manner. Failure to recognize severe impairment of renal function with the high likelihood of nondiuretic response can lead to aggravated dehydration of tissues and increased vascular fluid load. Induced diuresis in the presence of preexisting hemoconcentration and preexisting deficiency of water and electrolytes can lead to serious imbalances. Expansion of the extracellular space can aggravate cardiac decompensation or induce it in the presence of latent heart failure. Pulmonary congestion or edema can be seriously aggravated with the expansion of the extracellular and therefore intravascular fluid load. Hemodilution and dilution of the extracellular fluid space by osmotic shift of water can induce or aggravate preexisting hyponatremia.

If unrecognized, such fluid and/or electrolyte shift can produce the reported adverse reactions of pulmonary congestion, acidosis, electrolyte loss, dryness of mouth, thirst, edema, headache, blurred vision, convulsions and congestive cardiac failure.

These are not truly adverse reactions to the drug and can be appropriately prevented by evaluation of degree of renal failure with a test dose response to mannitol when indicated; evaluation of hypervolemia and hypovolemia; sodium and potassium levels; hemodilution or hemoconcentration; and evaluation of renal, cardiac and pulmonary function at the onset of therapy.

Side Effects by Body System

Cardiovascular

Cardiovascular side effects have included hypotension and tachycardia. Venous thrombosis or phlebitis extending from the injection site and hypervolemia have occurred rarely and are generally associated with the solution or technique used in administration.

Respiratory

Respiratory side effects have included pulmonary congestion and rhinitis.

Metabolic

Metabolic side effects have included fluid and electrolyte imbalance, acidosis, and electrolyte loss.

Nervous system

Nervous system side effects have included headache, convulsions, and dizziness.

Hematologic

Hematologic side effects have included thrombophlebitis.

Other

Eight cases of mannitol IV overdose in patients with preexisting renal failure were reviewed. Symptoms presented in the reviewed cases were CNS involvement out of proportion to uremia, severe hyponatremia, large osmolality gap, and fluid overload. Six patients were treated with hemodialysis, one patient with peritoneal dialysis, and one patient died before initiation of treatment. All patients received large doses over 1 to 3 days with a mean dose of 310 +/- 182.8 g. CNS involvement consisted of CNS depression, confusion, lethargy, stupor, and coma. Two patients recovered cerebral function and continued on lifetime dialysis, 3 patients recovered renal and cerebral function, and 1 patient recovered renal function but had severe cerebral dysfunction.

Other side effects have included dryness of mouth, thirst, edema, arm pain, chills, dehydration, fever, mannitol intoxication, and angina-like pain.

Renal

Renal side effects have included acute renal failure.

Local

Local side effects have included extravasation. This effect is generally attributed to the solution or technique used in administration.

Dermatologic

Dermatologic side effects have included urticaria and skin necrosis.

Ocular

Ocular side effects have included blurred vision.

Immunologic

Immunologic side effects have included infection at the injection site and febrile response. These effects are usually attributed to solution or technique used in administration.

Gastrointestinal

Gastrointestinal side effects have included nausea and vomiting.

Genitourinary

Genitourinary side effects have included marked diuresis and urinary retention.

Psychiatric

A 75-year-old woman with severe major depression experienced a manic episode 30 minutes after initiation of a 20% mannitol intravenous infusion for the treatment of acute angle closure glaucoma. The patient had been started on nortriptyline 50 mg per day for the treatment of depression ten days earlier. She received oral acetazolamide, topical pilocarpine, topical timolol, and topical dexamethasone concomitantly for the treatment of glaucoma. The mania resolved within approximately 1 hour following discontinuation of the mannitol infusion, and the patient returned to a severe depressive state. An extensive lab evaluation, toxicology screening, and medical examination failed to show additional secondary causes for mania in this patient.

Psychiatric side effects have rarely included mania (1 case report).

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