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Keflex (Cephalexin) - Drug Interactions, Contraindications, Overdosage, etc

 
 



DRUG INTERACTIONS

Drug Interactions

Metformin — In healthy subjects given single 500 mg doses of cephalexin and metformin, plasma metformin mean Cmax and AUC increased by an average of 34% and 24%, respectively, and metformin mean renal clearance decreased by 14%. No information is available about the interaction of cephalexin and metformin following multiple doses of either drug.

Although not observed in this study, adverse effects could potentially arise from co-administration of cephalexin and metformin by inhibition of tubular secretion via organic cationic transporter systems. Accordingly, careful patient monitoring and dose adjustment of metformin is recommended in patients concomitantly taking cephalexin and metformin.

Probenecid — As with other β-lactams, the renal excretion of cephalexin is inhibited by probenecid.

OVERDOSAGE

Signs and Symptoms — Symptoms of oral overdose may include nausea, vomiting, epigastric distress, diarrhea, and hematuria. If other symptoms are present, it is probably secondary to an underlying disease state, an allergic reaction, or toxicity due to ingestion of a second medication.

Treatment — To obtain up-to-date information about the treatment of overdose, a good resource is your certified Regional Poison Control Center. Telephone numbers of certified poison control centers are listed in the Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR). In managing overdosage, consider the possibility of multiple drug overdoses, interaction among drugs, and unusual drug kinetics in your patient.

Unless 5 to 10 times the normal dose of cephalexin has been ingested, gastrointestinal decontamination should not be necessary.

Protect the patient's airway and support ventilation and perfusion. Meticulously monitor and maintain, within acceptable limits, the patient's vital signs, blood gases, serum electrolytes, etc. Absorption of drugs from the gastrointestinal tract may be decreased by giving activated charcoal, which, in many cases, is more effective than emesis or lavage; consider charcoal instead of or in addition to gastric emptying. Repeated doses of charcoal over time may hasten elimination of some drugs that have been absorbed. Safeguard the patient's airway when employing gastric emptying or charcoal.

Forced diuresis, peritoneal dialysis, hemodialysis, or charcoal hemoperfusion have not been established as beneficial for an overdose of cephalexin; however, it would be extremely unlikely that one of these procedures would be indicated.

The oral median lethal dose of cephalexin in rats is >5000 mg/kg.

CONTRAINDICATIONS

Keflex is contraindicated in patients with known allergy to the cephalosporin group of antibiotics.

REFERENCES

  1. National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards. Methods for Dilution Antimicrobial Susceptibility Tests for Bacteria that Grow Aerobically — Fourth Edition. Approved Standard NCCLS Document M7-A4, Vol. 17, No. 2, NCCLS, Wayne, PA, January, 1997.
  2. National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards. Performance Standards for Antimicrobial Disk Susceptibility Tests — Sixth Edition. Approved Standard NCCLS Document M2-A6, Vol. 17, No. 1, NCCLS, Wayne, PA, January, 1997.
  3. National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards. Performance Standards for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing — Eighth Informational Supplement. Approved Standard NCCLS Document M100-S8, Vol. 18, No. 1, NCCLS, Wayne, PA, January, 1998.

Rev. 08/11

Manufactured by:
Sandoz GmbH
Kundl, Austria
Manufactured for:
Shionogi Inc.
Florham Park, NJ 07932

Item Code KEF-PI-1 / 46067890
Copyright © 2011, Shionogi Inc.
All rights reserved

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