Clindamycin palmitate hydrochloride precautions

# PRECAUTIONS

## General
Review of experience to date suggests that a subgroup of older patients with associated severe illness may tolerate diarrhea less well. When clindamycin is indicated in these patients, they should be carefully monitored for change in bowel frequency.
Clindamycin palmitate hydrochloride for oral solution (Pediatric) should be prescribed with caution in individuals with a history of gastrointestinal disease, particularly colitis.
Clindamycin palmitate hydrochloride for oral solution (Pediatric) should be prescribed with caution in atopic individuals.
Indicated surgical procedures should be performed in conjunction with antibiotic therapy.
The use of clindamycin palmitate hydrochloride for oral solution (Pediatric) occasionally results in overgrowth of nonsusceptible organisms-particularly yeasts. Should superinfections occur, appropriate measures should be taken as indicated by the clinical situation.
Clindamycin dosage modification may not be necessary in patients with renal disease. In patients with moderate to severe liver disease, prolongation of clindamycin half-life has been found. However, it was postulated from studies that when given every eight hours, accumulation should rarely occur. Therefore, dosage modification in patients with liver disease may not be necessary. However, periodic liver enzyme determinations should be made when treating patients with severe liver disease.
Prescribing clindamycin palmitate hydrochloride for oral solution (Pediatric) in the absence of a proven or strongly suspected bacterial infection or a prophylactic indication is unlikely to provide benefit to the patient and increases the risk of the development of drug-resistant bacteria.

## Information for Patients
Patients should be counseled that antibacterial drugs including clindamycin palmitate hydrochloride for oral solution (Pediatric) should only be used to treat bacterial infections. They do not treat viral infections (e.g., the common cold). When clindamycin palmitate hydrochloride for oral solution (Pediatric) is prescribed to treat a bacterial infection, patients should be told that although it is common to feel better early in the course of therapy, the medication should be taken exactly as directed. Skipping doses or not completing the full course of therapy may (1) decrease the effectiveness of the immediate treatment and (2) increase the likelihood that bacteria will develop resistance and will not be treatable by clindamycin palmitate hydrochloride for oral solution (Pediatric) or other antibacterial drugs in the future.
Diarrhea is a common problem caused by antibiotics which usually ends when the antibiotic is discontinued. Sometimes after starting treatment with antibiotics, patients can develop watery and bloody stools (with or without stomach cramps and fever) even as late as two or more months after having taken the last dose of the antibiotic. If this occurs, patients should contact their physician as soon as possible.

## Laboratory Tests
During prolonged therapy, periodic liver and kidney function tests and blood counts should be performed.

## Drug Interactions
Clindamycin has been shown to have neuromuscular blocking properties that may enhance the action of other neuromuscular blocking agents. Therefore, it should be used with caution in patients receiving such agents.
Antagonism has been demonstrated between clindamycin and erythromycin in vitro. Because of possible clinical significance, these two drugs should not be administered concurrently.

## Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility
Long term studies in animals have not been performed with clindamycin to evaluate carcinogenic potential. Genotoxicity tests performed included a rat micronucleus test and an Ames Salmonella reversion test. Both tests were negative.
Fertility studies in rats treated orally with up to 300 mg/kg/day (approximately 1.6 times the highest recommended adult human oral dose based on mg/m2) revealed no effects on fertility or mating ability.

## Pregnancy:
Pregnancy Category B
Reproduction studies performed in rats and mice using oral doses of clindamycin up to 600 mg/kg/day (3.2 and 1.6 times the highest recommended adult human oral dose based on mg/m2, respectively) or subcutaneous doses of clindamycin up to 250 mg/kg/day (1.3 and 0.7 times the highest recommended adult human oral dose based on mg/m2, respectively) revealed no evidence of teratogenicity.
There are, however, no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. Because animal reproduction studies are not always predictive of the human response, this drug should be used during pregnancy only if clearly needed.

## Nursing Mothers
Clindamycin has been reported to appear in breast milk in the range of 0.7 to 3.8 mcg/mL.

## Pediatric Use
When clindamycin palmitate hydrochloride for oral solution (Pediatric) is administered to the pediatric population (birth to 16 years), appropriate monitoring of organ system functions is desirable.

## Geriatric Use
Clinical studies of clindamycin did not include sufficient numbers of patients age 65 and over to determine whether they respond differently from younger patients. However, other reported clinical experience indicates that antibiotic-associated colitis and diarrhea (due to Clostridium difficile) seen in association with most antibiotics occur more frequently in the elderly (>60 years) and may be more severe. These patients should be carefully monitored for the development of diarrhea.
Pharmacokinetic studies with clindamycin have shown no clinically important differences between young subjects (18 to 39 years) and elderly subjects (61 to 79 years) with normal hepatic function and normal (age-adjusted) renal function after oral or intravenous administration.