Glycopyrrolate Injection is indicated in pediatric patients:
• for reduction of salivary, tracheobronchial, and pharyngeal secretions, reduction of volume and acidity of gastric secretions, and blockade of cardiac inhibitory reflexes during induction of anesthesia and intubation
• intraoperatively to counteract surgically or drug-induced or vagal reflex-associated arrhythmias
• for protection against peripheral muscarinic effects of cholinergic agents such as neostigmine and pyridostigmine given to reverse the neuromuscular blockade due to nondepolarizing agents
Heat prostration can occur in pediatric patients in the presence of fever, high environmental temperature, and/or during physical exercise with use of anticholinergic agents including Glycopyrrolate Injection
[see Warnings and Precautions (
5.3
)].
Young pediatric patients (and especially those less than 1 month of age), patients with Down syndrome, and pediatric patients with spastic paralysis or brain damage may experience an increased response to anticholinergics, thus increasing the potential for side effects.
A paradoxical reaction characterized by hyperexcitability may occur in pediatric patients receiving large doses of anticholinergics including Glycopyrrolate Injection. Dysrhythmias associated with the use of glycopyrrolate intravenously as a premedicant or during anesthesia have been observed in pediatric patients.
The safety and effectiveness of Glycopyrrolate Injection for treatment of peptic ulcer have not
been established in pediatric patients.
Benzyl Alcohol Toxicity
Benzyl alcohol, a component of this drug product, has been associated with serious adverse events and death, particularly in pediatric patients. The “gasping syndrome", (characterized by central nervous system depression, metabolic acidosis, gasping respirations, and high levels of benzyl alcohol and its metabolites found in the blood and urine) has been associated with benzyl alcohol dosages >99 mg/kg/day in neonates and low-birth-weight neonates. Additional symptoms may include gradual neurological deterioration, seizures, intracranial hemorrhage, hemotologic abnormalities, skin breakdown, hepatic and renal failure, hypotension, bradycardia, and cardiovascular collapse. Although normal therapeutic doses of this product deliver amounts of benzyl alcohol that are substantially lower than those reported in association with the “gasping syndrome”, the minimum amount of benzyl alcohol at which toxicity may occur is not known. Premature and low-birthweight infants, as well as patients receiving high dosages, may be more likely to develop toxicity. Practitioners administering this and other medications containing benzyl alcohol should consider the combined daily metabolic load of benzyl alcohol from all sources. Due to its benzyl alcohol content, glycopyrrolate injection should not be used in neonates, i.e., patients less than 1 month of age
[see Warnings and Precautions (
5.10
)].