Description

Mixing procedure: Each dose should be given as a suspension in a small quantity of water or, for greater palatability, in sweetened liquid or syrup (but not with orange or other fruit juices which contain potassium). The amount of fluid usually ranges from 20 ml to 100 ml, depending on the dose. It may be simply determined by allowing 3 ml to 4 ml per gram of drug. The prepared suspension should be administered by placing and maintaining the patient in an upright position. The resin may be introduced into the stomach through a plastic tube. If desired, it may be mixed with a diet appropriate for a patient in renal failure.The intensity and duration of therapy depend upon the severity and resistance of hyperkalemia. Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate should not be heated because it may alter the exchange properties of the resin. Suspension of this drug should be freshly prepared and not to be stored beyond 24 hours.

Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate may cause drug interactions with Antacids, Non absorbable cation-donating antacids and laxatives, Digitalis, Sorbitol, Lithium, Thyroxine.

Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate is contraindicated in the following conditions: patients with hypokalemia, patients with a history of hypersensitivity to polystyrene sulfonate resins, obstructive bowel disease, neonates with reduced gut motility (postoperatively or drug induced) and oral administration in neonates.

The drug may cause some degree of gastric irritation. Anorexia, nausea, vomiting, and constipation may occur especially if high doses are given. Also, hypokalemia, hypocalcemia, and significant sodium retention, and their related clinical manifestations, may occur. Occasionally diarrhea develops. Large doses in elderly individuals may cause fecal impaction. Rare instances of colonic necrosis have been reported. Intestinal obstruction due to concretions of aluminum hydroxide, when used in combination with such resin has been reported.

Pregnancy Category C. Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate. It is also not known whether it can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. It should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed. Nursing Mothers: It is not known whether this drug is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when this product is administered to a nursing woman.

Caution is advised when this product is administered to patients who cannot tolerate even a small increase in sodium loads (i.e., severe congestive heart failure, severe hypertension, or marked edema). In such instances compensatory restriction of sodium intake from other sources may be indicated. In the event of clinically signifcant constipation, treatment with this drug should be discontinued until normal bowel motion is resumed. Magnesium-containing laxatives or sorbitol should not be used.

Overdosage may result in electrolyte disturbances including hypokalemia, hypocalcemia, and hypomagnesemia. Biochemical disturbances resulting from overdosage may give rise to clinical signs and symptoms of hypokalemia, including: irritability, confusion, delayed thought processes, muscle weakness, hyporeflexia, which may progress to frank paralysis and/or apnea.