Amoxicillin Drug Information

Dosage in Adult Patients Experience with amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium for oral suspension, 600 mg/42.9 mg per 5 mL in adults is not available and adults who have difficulty swallowing should not be given amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium for oral suspension, 600 mg/42.9 mg per 5 mL in place of the amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium 500 mg or 875 mg tablet.

Dosage in Patients with Hepatic Impairment

Hepatically impaired patients should be dosed with caution and hepatic function monitored at regular intervals.

Preparation of the Oral Suspension Prepare the suspension at time of dispensing as follows: Tap bottle until all powder flows freely. Measure the total amount of water (see Table 2) to be added in two parts. Add approximately 2/3 of the total amount of water for reconstitution, replace cap and shake vigorously to suspend powder.

Add remainder of the water (that had been measured), replace cap and again shake vigorously. Table 2: Volume of Water for Reconstituting Amoxicillin and Clavulanate Potassium for Oral Suspension, 600 mg/42.9 mg per 5 mL Bottle Size Amount of Water Required for Reconstitution mL ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Each 5 mL will contain 600 mg of amoxicillin as the trihydrate, and 42.9 mg of clavulanic acid as the potassium salt. Shake oral suspension well before each use.

Suspension must be refrigerated. Discard after 10 days. Suspension is off-white at time of reconstitution; some color change is normal during the dosing period.

Flavoring Information: For patients who wish to alter the taste of amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium for oral suspension, 600 mg/42.9 mg per 5 mL, immediately after reconstitution, 1 drop of FLAVORx ® (apple, banana cream, bubble gum, cherry, or watermelon flavor) may be added for every 5 mL of amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium for oral suspension, 600 mg/42.9 mg per 5 mL. The resulting suspension is stable for 10 days under refrigeration. Stability of amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium for oral suspension, 600 mg/42.9 mg per 5 mL when mixed with other flavors other than the 5 flavors listed above has not been evaluated.

Switching between Dosage Forms and between Strengths Amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium for oral suspension, 600 mg/42.9 mg per 5 mL does not contain the same amount of clavulanic acid (as the potassium salt) as any of the other suspensions of amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium.

Clinical Trials Experience

Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice. Two clinical trials evaluated the safety of a 10-day treatment course of amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium for oral suspension, 600 mg/42.9 mg per 5 mL 90/6.4 mg/kg/day, divided every 12 hours, in pediatric patients with acute otitis media. There was no statistically significant difference between treatments in the proportion of patients with 1 or more adverse events.

Two patients in the group treated with amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium for oral suspension, 600 mg/42.9 mg per 5 mL and one patient in the group treated with amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium were withdrawn due to diarrhea.

Postmarketing Experience

The following adverse reactions have been identified during postmarketing use of amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium products, including amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium for oral suspension, 600 mg/42.9 mg per 5 mL. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of unknown size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure. Gastrointestinal: Drug-induced enterocolitis syndrome (DIES), diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, indigestion, gastritis, stomatitis, glossitis, black “hairy” tongue, mucocutaneous candidiasis, enterocolitis, and hemorrhagic/pseudomembranous colitis.

Onset of pseudomembranous colitis symptoms may occur during or after antibacterial treatment. Immune: Hypersensitivity reactions, anaphylactic/anaphylactoid reactions (including shock), angioedema, serum sickness-like reactions (urticaria or skin rash accompanied by arthritis, arthralgia, myalgia, and frequently fever), hypersensitivity vasculitis. Skin and Appendages: Rashes, pruritus, urticaria, erythema multiforme, SJS, TEN, DRESS, AGEP, exfoliative dermatitis, and linear IgA bullous dermatosis.

Liver: A moderate rise in AST (SGOT) and/or ALT (SGPT) has been noted in patients treated with ampicillin-class antibacterials. Hepatic dysfunction, including increases in serum transaminases (AST and/or ALT), serum bilirubin, and/or alkaline phosphatase, has been infrequently reported with amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium or amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium for oral suspension, 600 mg/42.9 mg per 5 mL. It has been reported more commonly in the elderly, in males, or in patients on prolonged treatment.

The histologic findings on liver biopsy have consisted of cholestatic, hepatocellular, or mixed cholestatic-hepatocellular changes. The onset of signs/symptoms of hepatic dysfunction may occur during or several weeks after therapy has been discontinued. The hepatic dysfunction, which may be severe, is usually reversible.

Deaths have been reported. Renal: Interstitial nephritis and hematuria have been reported. Crystalluria has also been reported.

Hemic and Lymphatic Systems: Anemia, including hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, thrombocytopenic purpura, eosinophilia, leukopenia, and agranulocytosis have been reported during therapy with penicillins. These reactions are usually reversible on discontinuation of therapy and are believed to be hypersensitivity phenomena. There have been reports of increased prothrombin time in patients receiving amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium and anticoagulant therapy concomitantly.

Central Nervous System: Agitation, anxiety, behavioral changes, aseptic meningitis, confusion, convulsions, dizziness, insomnia, and reversible hyperactivity have been reported. Miscellaneous: Tooth discoloration (brown, yellow, or gray staining) has been reported. Most reports occurred in pediatric patients.

Discoloration was reduced or eliminated with brushing or dental cleaning in most cases.

Probenecid

Probenecid decreases the renal tubular secretion of amoxicillin. Concurrent use with amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium for oral suspension, 600 mg/42.9 mg per 5 mL may result in increased and prolonged blood levels of amoxicillin. Coadministration of probenecid is not recommended.

Oral Anticoagulants

Abnormal prolongation of prothrombin time (increased international normalized ratio ) has been reported in patients receiving amoxicillin and oral anticoagulants. ​​​​​​​Appropriate monitoring should be undertaken when anticoagulants are prescribed concurrently. Adjustments in the dose of oral anticoagulants may be necessary to maintain the desired level of anticoagulation.

Allopurinol

The concurrent administration of allopurinol and amoxicillin increases substantially the incidence of rashes in patients receiving both drugs as compared to patients receiving amoxicillin alone. It is not known whether this potentiation of amoxicillin rashes is due to allopurinol or the hyperuricemia present in these patients. There are no data with amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium for oral suspension, 600 mg/42.9 mg per 5 mL and allopurinol administered concurrently.

Oral Contraceptives Amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium for oral suspension, 600 mg/42.9 mg per 5 mL may affect intestinal flora, leading to lower estrogen reabsorption and reduced efficacy of combined oral estrogen/progesterone contraceptives.

Effects on Laboratory Tests

High urine concentrations of amoxicillin may result in false-positive reactions when testing for the presence of glucose in urine using CLINITEST ®, Benedict’s Solution, or Fehling’s Solution. Since this effect may also occur with amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium for oral suspension, 600 mg/42.9 mg per 5 mL, it is recommended that glucose tests based on enzymatic glucose oxidase reactions be used. Following administration of amoxicillin to pregnant women, a transient decrease in plasma concentration of total conjugated estriol, estriol-glucuronide, conjugated estrone, and estradiol has been noted.

Serious Hypersensitivity Reactions Amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium for oral suspension, 600 mg/42.9 mg per 5 mL is contraindicated in patients with a history of serious hypersensitivity reactions (e.g., anaphylaxis or Stevens-Johnson syndrome) to amoxicillin, clavulanate, or to other beta-lactam antibacterial drugs (e.g., penicillins and cephalosporins).

Cholestatic Jaundice/Hepatic Dysfunction Amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium for oral suspension, 600 mg/42.9 mg per 5 mL is contraindicated in patients with a previous history of cholestatic jaundice/hepatic dysfunction associated with treatment with amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium.

Following overdosage, patients have experienced primarily gastrointestinal symptoms including stomach and abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. Rash, hyperactivity, or drowsiness have also been observed in a small number of patients. In the case of overdosage, discontinue amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium for oral suspension, 600 mg/42.9 mg per 5 mL, treat symptomatically, and institute supportive measures as required.

If the overdosage is very recent and there is no contraindication, an attempt at emesis or other means of removal of drug from the stomach may be performed. A prospective study of 51 pediatric patients at a poison control center suggested that overdosages of less than 250 mg/kg of amoxicillin are not associated with significant clinical symptoms and do not require gastric emptying.1 Interstitial nephritis resulting in oliguric renal failure has been reported in a small number of patients after overdosage with amoxicillin. Crystalluria, in some cases leading to renal failure, has also been reported after amoxicillin overdosage in adult and pediatric patients.

In case of overdosage, adequate fluid intake and diuresis should be maintained to reduce the risk of amoxicillin crystalluria. Renal impairment appears to be reversible with cessation of drug administration. High blood levels may occur more readily in patients with impaired renal function because of decreased renal clearance of both amoxicillin and clavulanate.

Both amoxicillin and clavulanate are removed from the circulation by hemodialysis.