Clinical medicine profile
Carbetocin, a synthetic analog of oxytocin
Therapeutic agent (verify pharmacological class)
- Route
- See product SmPC
- Schedule
- POM
- ATC
- Not assigned
- PPB status
- registered
This profile needs source confirmation
Some sections contain general class guidance rather than medicine-specific evidence. Confirm prescribing decisions against the current SmPC and Kenya STG/EML.
Safety essentials
The information most likely to change a prescribing or dispensing decision.
Contraindications
- Hypersensitivity to the active substance or excipients.
- Additional absolute contraindications are indication- and product-specific — consult SmPC.
Precautions
- Obtain allergy and medication history.
- Adjust for renal/hepatic impairment, pregnancy, lactation, extremes of age and interacting drugs.
- Use the lowest effective dose for the shortest appropriate duration.
- Monitor for expected class adverse effects.
Dosing matrix
Population and organ-function guidance, shown together for faster comparison.
Dosing is indication-, age-, weight- and organ-function-specific for this INN. Do not use class averages for high-risk patients. Confirm the exact regimen in the current SmPC and Kenya Standard Treatment Guidelines. Typical professional workflow: (1) confirm indication, (2) check renal/hepatic function, (3) screen interactions/allergies, (4) select dose/route/duration, (5) define monitoring.
Paediatric dosing is weight- and age-based; use a paediatric formulary / SmPC. Do not extrapolate adult tablets without calculation.
Review renal impairment dosing; many agents need CrCl/eGFR adjustment.
- CrCl 0–120: Confirm renal dosing in product SmPC / primary label.
Review hepatic impairment dosing; monitor LFTs if agent is hepatically cleared or hepatotoxic.
Use, effects & interactions
Indications
- Postpartum uterine haemorrhage
- medical induction of labour
- augmentation of labour
- hypotonic uterine inertia
- diagnosis of utero-placental insufficiency [oxytocin challenge test]
- treatment of lactation deficiency [mostly intranasally]
- diagnosis of foetal distress
Adverse effects
- Fibrinogenaemia
- pelvic hematoma
- postpartum hemorrhage: allergic reactions
- cardiac arrhythmias
- hypotension followed by hypertension
- uterine rupture
- water intoxication
- vomiting.
Drug interactions
Open multi-drug checker ↗- Professional use: confirm indication, dose, duration, monitoring and patient counselling points against current Kenya STG / EML and the product SmPC.
- Document allergy status and key interactions.
Mechanism & disposition
It acts by increasing intracellular calcium concentrations in the uterine myometrium, which contains receptors specific to oxytocin, thus inducing contractions.
Read complete mechanism
It acts by increasing intracellular calcium concentrations in the uterine myometrium, which contains receptors specific to oxytocin, thus inducing contractions. It induces lactation by stimulating the smooth muscle to help the discharge of milk from breasts
Product-specific
Product-specific
See product SmPC
are product-specific. Consider food effects, protein binding, hepatic CYP/UGT
when adjusting for organ impairment, age and drug interactions. Verify parameters in the current SmPC.
Pregnancy, lactation & diet
Use only if potential benefit justifies potential risk; prefer agents with better reproductive data when alternatives exist.
Assess infant risk vs benefit of maternal therapy; prefer agents with lactation data.
Brands & loaded prices
| Brand | Manufacturer | Pack | Observed price |
|---|---|---|---|
| No reviewed brand listings are linked yet. | |||
Sources & review state
Decision support only. Confirm patient-specific decisions against the current product SmPC, Kenya STG/EML, and professional judgement.