Description
EPINEPHRINE
Injection, USP
1:10,000 (0.1 mg/mL)
Abboject® Syringe
Fliptop Vial Rx only
Protect solution from light;
do not use the Injection if its color is pinkish or darker than slightly yellow or if it contains a precipitate.
Epinephrine Injection, USP is a sterile, nonpyrogenic solution administered parenterally by the intravenous or intracardiac (left ventricular chamber) routes, or via endotracheal tube into the
bronchial tree. Each milliliter (mL) of the 1:10,000 solution contains epinephrine 0.1 mg; sodium chloride 8.16 mg; sodium metabisulfite added 0.46 mg; citric acid, anhydrous 2 mg and sodium citrate, dihydrate 0.6 mg added as buffers. May contain additional citric acid and/or sodium citrate for pH adjustment. pH 3.3 (2.2 to 5.0). Epinephrine Injection, USP is oxygen sensitive.
The solution contains no bacteriostat or antimicrobial agent and is intended for use only as a single-dose injection. When smaller doses are required the unused portion should be discarded.
Epinephrine Injection, USP is a parenteral adrenergic (sympathomimetic) agent and cardiac stimulant. The drug belongs to the group of endogenous compounds known as catecholamines.
Sodium Chloride, USP is chemically designated NaCl, a white crystalline powder freely soluble in water. Epinephrine, USP is chemically designated 4-[1-hydroxy-2-(methylamino) ethyl]-1,
2 benzenediol, a white, microcrystalline powder. With acids, it forms salts that are freely soluble in water. Epinephrine has the following structural formula:
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Clinical Pharmacology
The actions of epinephrine resemble the effects of stimulation of adrenergic nerves. To a variable degree it acts on both alpha and beta receptor sites of sympathetic effector cells. Its most prominent actions are on the beta receptors of the heart, vascular and other smooth muscle. When given by rapid intravenous injection, it produces a rapid rise in blood pressure, mainly systolic, by (1) direct stimulation of cardiac muscle which increases the strength of ventricular contraction, (2) increasingthe heart rate and (3) constriction of the arterioles in the skin, mucosa and splanchnic areas of the circulation. When given by slow intravenous injection, epinephrine usually produces only a moderate rise in systolic and a fall in diastolic pressure. Although some increase in pulse pressure occurs, there is usually no great elevation in mean blood pressure. Accordingly, the compensatory reflex mechanisms that come into play with a pronounced increase in blood pressure do not antagonize the direct cardiac actions of epinephrine as much as with catecholamines that have a predominant action on alpha receptors. Total peripheral resistance decreases by action of epinephrine on beta receptors of the skeletal muscle vasculature and blood flow is thereby enhanced. Usually this vasodilator effect of the drug on the circulation predominates so that the modest rise in systolic pressure which follows slow injection or absorption is mainly the result of direct cardiac stimulation and increase in cardiac output. In some instances peripheral resistance is not altered or may even rise owing to a greater ratio of alpha to beta activity in different vascular areas. Epinephrine relaxes the smooth muscles of the bronchi and iris and is a physiologic antagonist of histamine. The drug also produces an increase in blood sugar and glycogenolysis in the liver. Intravenous injection produces an immediate and intensified response. Following intravenous injection epinephrine disappears rapidly from the blood stream. Epinephrine is rapidly inactivated in the body and is degraded by enzymes in the liver and other tissues. The larger portion of injected doses is excreted in the urine as inactivated compounds and the remainder either partly unchanged or conjugated. The drug becomes fixed in the tissues and is inactivated chiefly by enzymatic transformation to metanephrine or normetanephrine either of which is subsequently conjugated and excreted in the urine in the form of sulfates and glucuronides. Either sequence results in the formation of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxy-mandelic acid (vanillyl-mandelic acid: VMA) which also is detectable in the urine.
Sodium chloride added to render the solution isotonic for injection of the active ingredient is present in amounts insufficient to affect serum electrolyte balance of sodium (Na+) and chloride
(Cl–) ions.
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