Christchurch Medicines Information Service

When treating neuropathic pain in a woman who is pregnant, the use of gabapentinoids (e.g. gabapentin) or an antiepileptic drug (AED) (e.g. levetiracetam, lamotrigine) is a last line option. This is due to the limited availability of data for safe use during pregnancy. Other options should be tri...

Patients should be asked if they are wearing a transdermal patch prior to a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan Background A recent case of possible fentanyl toxicity in a patient wearing a transdermal patch during an MRI highlighted the safety issues associated with medication patches in MR...

Depression affects approximately 10% of pregnant women and is associated with adverse maternal and foetal outcomes. The decision to use or continue antidepressants in pregnancy centres around the risks to the mother and baby of untreated maternal depression, the effectiveness of non-pharmacologic...

Depression affects approximately 10% of pregnant women and can be associated with adverse maternal and foetal outcomes. The decision to use or continue antidepressants in pregnancy centres around the risks to the mother and baby of untreated maternal depression, the effectiveness of non-pharmacol...

Background Nausea and vomiting are experienced by up to 80% of pregnant women. This is often referred to as morning sickness, although nausea and vomiting may occur at other times of the day. For the majority of pregnant women these symptoms are limited to the first trimester and are manageable,...

At the end of February this year all CDHB hospitals switched from using iv infusions of omeprazole to iv intermittent boluses in the treatment regimen for upper gastrointestinal bleeding. This decision (which involved General Surgery, Gastroenterology, Clinical Pharmacology, Pharmacy and the Emer...

Morphine is considered internationally to be the opioid analgesic of choice for the relief of moderate to severe pain. It is used in many areas of medicine including musculoskeletal injury, pre- and post-surgery and in malignant disease. Oxycodone is an opioid analgesic which has similar indicati...

Metronidazole is often indicated in infections affecting breastfeeding mothers, such as trichomoniasis, pelvic inflammatory disease and bacterial vaginosis. This bulletin reviews the safety of metronidazole in breastfeeding women. Transfer into breast milk Nearly all drugs transfer into...

Prescribing for older patients is complex. Many older patients are frail (25-50% of people older than 84 years) - characterised by physiological decline in multiple systems, resulting in patient vulnerability to medicines. Older people are at greater risk of harm, including iatrogenic harm. This ...

Clinical guidelines recommend that patients prescribed opioids should be co- prescribed laxatives. However, opioid induced constipation remains a common local and international problem associated with morbidity and mortality occurring in up to 90% of those taking opioids. Within CDHB hospitals fr...