Dobutamine

Information from Drugs.com, by Cerner Multum:

What is dobutamine?

Dobutamine stimulates heart muscle and improves blood flow by helping the heart pump better.

Dobutamine is used short-term to treat cardiac decompensation due to weakened heart muscle.

Dobutamine is usually given after other heart medicines have been tried without success.

Dobutamine may also be used for purposes not listed in this medication guide.

Dobutamine side effects

Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficult breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.

Tell your veterinarian right away if your pet has:

• shortness of breath (even with mild exertion), swelling, rapid weight gain;

• chest pain, fast or pounding heartbeats;

• a light-headed feeling, like you might pass out;

• wheezing, chest tightness;

• dangerously high blood pressure-severe headache, blurred vision, buzzing in your ears, anxiety, confusion, uneven heartbeats, seizure; or

• signs of infection in your catheter--pain, swelling, warmth, redness, oozing, or skin changes where the medicine is injected.

Warnings

• Your breathing, blood pressure, oxygen levels, and other vital signs will be watched closely while you are receiving dobutamine.

Before taking this medicine

You should not use dobutamine if you are allergic to it.

To make sure dobutamine is safe for you, tell your doctor if you have:

• high blood pressure;

• a heart valve disorder; or

• asthma or sulfite allergy.

Information from Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook, 7th Edition, by Donald C. Plumb:

Dobutamine is contraindicated in patients with known hypersensitivity to the drug or with idiopathic hyperopic subaortic stenosis (IHSS). The injectable formulation contains sodium bisulfate as a preservative, that has been documented to cause allergic type reactions in some human patients. Hypovolemic states must be corrected before administering dobutamine. Because it may increase myocardial oxygen demand and increase infarct size, dobutamine should be used very cautiously after myocardial infarction.

Use with extreme caution in patients with ventricular tachyarrythmias or atrial fibrillation. Dobutamine can enhance atrioventricular conduction; animals with atrial fibrillation should be digitalized prior to receiving dobutamine.

Adverse effects reported in dogs include tachycardia, facial twitching, seizures and tachyphylaxis (increasing dosages required over time). In cats, high doses may cause CNS effects , such as tremors or seizures. 

The most commonly reported adverse effects in humans are ectopic beats, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, chest pain, and palpitations. At usual doses, these effects are generally mild and will not necessitate halting therapy , but dosage reductions should be performed. Other, more rare, adverse effects reported include nausea, headache, vomiting, leg cramps, paresthesias, and dyspnea.

There are not enough studies to comment on safety during pregnancy. No specific information on lactation safety for dobutamine was found.

Clinical signs associated with excessive dosage include tachycardias, increased blood pressure, nervousness, and fatigue. Because of the drug's short duration of action, temporarily halting therapy is usually all that is required to reverse these effects.

The following drugs may interact with dobutamine: anesthetics, general halogenated hydrocarbons, beta blockers, nitroprusside, oxytotic drugs.