Labetalol

Labetalol Drug Labetalol Brand names Trandate ® Indications Mycoardial ischemia. Hypertension. Hypertensive emergency, including in pregnancy. Postoperative hypertension.…

Labetalol


Drug	Labetalol
Brand names	Trandate ®
Indications	Mycoardial ischemia. Hypertension. Hypertensive emergency, including in pregnancy. Postoperative hypertension.
Mechanism of action	Combined beta-adrenergic and alpha-adrenergic blocker with rapid onset of action. Labetalol has less antihypertensive efficacy as compared with nicardipine. Labetalol is safe in patients with coronary artery disease since it does not increase heart rate, and reduces myocardial oxygen consumption. Time to onset of action: 5 minutes.
Effects	Lowers blood pressure, reduces heart rate, myocardial oxygen consumption and myocardial contractility.
Time to onset of action	5 to 10 minutes
Duration of action	2 to 4 hours
Delivery	IV
Dose	Can be given as repeated intravenous bolus injections or as a constant-dose infusion. Bolus regime: • 20 mg IV bolus over 2 minutes, followed by 20 to 80 mg every 10 minutes to a total dose of 300 mg. Infusion regime: • 0.5–2 mg/minute IV infusion. Higher doses are sometimes required.
Adverse effects	Vomiting. Dizziness. Nausea. Atrioventricular blocks (AV-blocks). Orthostatic hypotension. Paresthesias (scalp tingling). Bronchospasm.
Caution	• Avoided in hypertensive emergencies with left ventricular failure (due to negative inotropic effect). • Used cautiously in patients with asthma (due to risk of bronchospasm). • Used cautiously in bradycardia due to negative chronotropic effect. • In patients with pheochromocytoma, cocaine or methamphetamine overdose, prior treatment with alpha blockade is necessary before administering labetalol (risk of elevating blood pressure in these settings).

Labetalol doses and administration in hypertension (hypertensive crisis/emergency).

Labetalol

Labetalol

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