PRECAUTIONS
Central Nervous System Effects
Oxybutynin is associated with anticholinergic central nervous system (CNS) effects (See ADVERSE REACTIONS). A variety of CNS anticholinergic effects have been reported, including hallucinations, agitation, confusion and somnolence. Patients should be monitored for signs of anticholinergic CNS effects, particularly in the first few months after beginning treatment or increasing the dose. If a patient experiences anticholinergic CNS effects, dose reduction or drug discontinuation should be considered.
DITROPAN XL should be used with caution in patients with preexisting dementia treated with cholinesterase inhibitors due to the risk of aggravation of symptoms.
General
DITROPAN XL® (oxybutynin chloride) should be used with caution in patients with hepatic or renal impairment and in patients with myasthenia gravis due to the risk of symptom aggravation.
Urinary Retention
DITROPAN XL should be administered with caution to patients with clinically significant bladder outflow obstruction because of the risk of urinary retention (see CONTRAINDICATIONS).
Gastrointestinal Disorders
DITROPAN XL should be administered with caution to patients with gastrointestinal obstructive disorders because of the risk of gastric retention (see CONTRAINDICATIONS).
DITROPAN XL, like other anticholinergic drugs, may decrease gastrointestinal motility and should be used with caution in patients with conditions such as ulcerative colitis and intestinal atony.
DITROPAN XL should be used with caution in patients who have gastroesophageal reflux and/or who are concurrently taking drugs (such as bisphosphonates) that can cause or exacerbate esophagitis.
As with any other nondeformable material, caution should be used when administering DITROPAN XL to patients with preexisting severe gastrointestinal narrowing (pathologic or iatrogenic). There have been rare reports of obstructive symptoms in patients with known strictures in association with the ingestion of other drugs in nondeformable controlled-release formulations.
Information for Patients
Patients should be informed that heat prostration (fever and heat stroke due to decreased sweating) can occur when anticholinergics such as oxybutynin chloride are administered in the presence of high environmental temperature.
Because anticholinergic agents such as oxybutynin may produce drowsiness (somnolence) or blurred vision, patients should be advised to exercise caution.
Patients should be informed that alcohol may enhance the drowsiness caused by anticholinergic agents such as oxybutynin.
Patients should be informed that DITROPAN XL should be swallowed whole with the aid of liquids. Patients should not chew, divide, or crush tablets. The medication is contained within a nonabsorbable shell designed to release the drug at a controlled rate. The tablet shell is eliminated from the body; patients should not be concerned if they occasionally notice in their stool something that looks like a tablet.
DITROPAN XL should be taken at approximately the same time each day.
Drug Interactions
The concomitant use of oxybutynin with other anticholinergic drugs or with other agents which produce dry mouth, constipation, somnolence (drowsiness), and/or other anticholinergic-like effects may increase the frequency and/or severity of such effects.
Anticholinergic agents may potentially alter the absorption of some concomitantly administered drugs due to anticholinergic effects on gastrointestinal motility. This may be of concern for drugs with a narrow therapeutic index.
Mean oxybutynin chloride plasma concentrations were approximately 2 fold higher when DITROPAN XL was administered with ketoconazole, a potent CYP3A4 inhibitor. Other inhibitors of the cytochrome P450 3A4 enzyme system, such as antimycotic agents (e.g., itraconazole and miconazole) or macrolide antibiotics (e.g., erythromycin and clarithromycin), may alter oxybutynin mean pharmacokinetic parameters (i.e., Cmax and AUC). The clinical relevance of such potential interactions is not known. Caution should be used when such drugs are co-administered.
Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility
A 24-month study in rats at dosages of oxybutynin chloride of 20, 80, and 160 mg/kg/day showed no evidence of carcinogenicity. These doses are approximately 6, 25, and 50 times the maximum human exposure, based on surface area.
Oxybutynin chloride showed no increase of mutagenic activity when tested in Schizosaccharomyces pompholiciformis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Salmonella typhimurium test systems.
Reproduction studies with oxybutynin chloride in the mouse, rat, hamster, and rabbit showed no definite evidence of impaired fertility.
Pregnancy
Teratogenic Effects
Pregnancy Category B
Reproduction studies with oxybutynin chloride in the mouse, rat, hamster, and rabbit showed no definite evidence of impaired fertility or harm to the animal fetus. The safety of DITROPAN XL administration to women who are or who may become pregnant has not been established. Therefore, DITROPAN XL should not be given to pregnant women unless, in the judgment of the physician, the probable clinical benefits outweigh the possible hazards.
Nursing Mothers
It is not known whether oxybutynin is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when DITROPAN XL is administered to a nursing woman.
Pediatric Use
The safety and efficacy of DITROPAN XL were studied in 60 children in a 24-week, open-label trial. Patients were aged 6-15 years, all had symptoms of detrusor overactivity in association with a neurological condition (e.g., spina bifida), all used clean intermittent catheterization, and all were current users of oxybutynin chloride. Study results demonstrated that administration of DITROPAN XL 5 to 20 mg/day was associated with an increase from baseline in mean urine volume per catheterization from 108 mL to 136 mL, an increase from baseline in mean urine volume after morning awakening from 148 mL to 189 mL, and an increase from baseline in the mean percentage of catheterizations without a leaking episode from 34% to 51%.
Urodynamic results were consistent with clinical results. Administration of DITROPAN XL resulted in an increase from baseline in mean maximum cystometric capacity from 185 mL to 254 mL, a decrease from baseline in mean detrusor pressure at maximum cystometric capacity from 44 cm H2O to 33 cm H2O, and a reduction in the percentage of patients demonstrating uninhibited detrusor contractions (of at least 15 cm H2O) from 60% to 28%.
DITROPAN XL is not recommended in pediatric patients who can not swallow the tablet whole without chewing, dividing, or crushing, or in children under the age of 6 (See DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION).
Geriatric Use
The rate and severity of anticholinergic effects reported by patients less than 65 years old and those 65 years and older were similar (see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Pharmacokinetics, Special Populations: Geriatric).
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