Aluminum Hydroxide (Alu-Cap, Amphojel)

Category:

  • Gastrointestinal

Description:

  • Weak antacid, phosphate binder

Indications:

  • Duodenal ulcer

  • Peptic ulcer

  • Hyperphosphatremia

  • Stress gastritis prophylaxis

Contraindications:

  • GI bleeding, constipation, fecal impaction, GI obstruction

  • Hypophosphatemia, renal disease

Precautions:

  • Dehydrated patients

  • Patients with preexisting decreased bowel motility

  • Hemorrhoids

Adverse Reactions (Side Effects):

  • CNS: dementia, malaise, encephalopathy

  • GI: bowel obstruction, constipation, hemorrhoids

  • METAB: hypercalcemia, hypophosphatemia

  • GU: nephrolithiasis

  • MISC: weakness, osteomalacia, osteoporosis

Dosage:

Administered orally

  • Hyperacidity (as an antacid) associated with gastritis, peptic ulcer disease including duodenal ulcer and possibly gastric ulcer, reflux esophagitis, and hiatal hernia:

    • Adult:   PO 40-60ml every 3-6 hours, or 1 and 3 hours after meals and at bedtime as tablet, capsule, or suspension.  For the acute management of reflux esophagitis, doses may be administered every hour if necessary.  The OTC recommended dose for oral suspension is 10ml taken 5-6 times daily, between meals and at bedtime.  The recommended OTC dose for Amphojel tablets is 600mg PO 5-6 times per day, between meals and at bedtime.

    • Child:   PO 5-15ml oral suspension given every 3-6 hours, or 1 and 3 hours after meals and at bedtime

    • Infant:   PO 1-2 ml/kg oral suspension given every 4 hours as needed

  • Stress gastritis prophylaxis:

    • Adult:   PO 40-60ml every 3-6 hours, or 1 and 3 hours after meals and at bedtime.  Dosage should be titrated according to intragastric pH

    • Child:   PO 5-15ml suspension given every 1-2 hours; titrate to gastric pH > 3.5

    • Infant:   PO 2-5ml suspension given every 1-2 hours; titrate to gastric pH > 3.5

    • Neonate: PO 1 ml/kg suspension given every 4 hours as needed

  • Management of hyperphosphatemia secondary to renal osteodystrophy in patients with end stage renal disease:

    • Adult:   PO 30-40ml suspension administered with each meal or snack. NOTE: Some clinicians prefer to avoid aluminum salts for this indication.  Although calcium salts are preferred, aluminum salts may be desirable when serum calcium is also high.  When the serum phosphate has been lowered sufficiently, aluminum salts can be replaced by calcium salts.

    • Child:   PO 50-150 mg/kg/day divided in 4-6 daily doses

 

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Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited.

The information contained here is an abbreviated summary. For more detailed and complete information, consult the manufacturer's product information sheets or standard textbooks.

Source: Operational Medicine 2001, Health Care in Military Settings, NAVMED P-5139, May 1, 2001, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Department of the Navy, 2300 E Street NW, Washington, D.C., 20372-5300.

Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
Department of the Navy
2300 E Street NW
Washington, D.C
20372-5300

Operational Medicine
 Health Care in Military Settings
CAPT Michael John Hughey, MC, USNR
NAVMED P-5139
  January 1, 2001

United States Special Operations Command
7701 Tampa Point Blvd.
MacDill AFB, Florida
33621-5323

*This web version is provided by The Brookside Associates, LLC.  It contains original contents from the official US Navy NAVMED P-5139, but has been reformatted for web access and includes advertising and links that were not present in the original version. The medical information presented was reviewed and felt to be accurate in 2001. Medical knowledge and practice methods may have changed since that time. Some links may no longer be active. This web version has not been approved by the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense. The presence of any advertising on these pages does not constitute an endorsement of that product or service by either the US Department of Defense or the Brookside Associates. The Brookside Associates is a private organization, not affiliated with the United States Department of Defense.

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