Doripenem

Doripenem is a prescription medication used for the treatment of complicated intra-abdominal infections and complicated urinary tract infections.

• Doripenem is available under the following different brand names: Doribax

Adult dosage

Powder for injection

• 500mg/vial

Complicated Intra-abdominal Infection

Adult dosage

• 500 mg IV infusion over 1 hour every 8 hours for 5-14 days
• At least 3 days IV, may switch to an appropriate orally treatment if clinical improvement noted

Complicated UTI

Adult dosage

• 500 mg IV infusion over 1 hour every 8 hours for 10 days
• Can be extended up to 14 days if concurrent bacteremia

Dosage Considerations – Should be Given as Follows: 

• See “Dosages”

Common side effects of Doripenem include:

• headache,
• diarrhea,
• nausea,
• vaginal itching or discharge,
• mild rash, and
• pain, swelling, or redness where the medicine was injected.

Serious side effects of Doripenem include:

• hives,
• difficulty breathing,
• swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat,
• severe stomach pain,
• bloody or watery diarrhea,
• severe itching, and
• skin rash

Rare side effects of Doripenem include:

• none 

If your medical doctor is using this medicine to treat your pain, your doctor or pharmacist may already be aware of any possible drug interactions and may be monitoring you for them. Do not start, stop, or change the dosage of any medicine before checking with your doctor, health care provider, or pharmacist first.

• Doripenem has no noted severe interactions with any other drugs.
• Doripenem has no noted serious interactions with any other drugs.
• Doripenem has no noted moderate interactions with any other drugs.
• Doripenem has no noted minor interactions with any other drugs.

This information does not contain all possible interactions or adverse effects. Visit the RxList Drug Interaction Checker for any drug interactions. Therefore, before using this product, tell your doctor or pharmacist about all the products you use. Keep a list of all your medications with you and share this information with your doctor and pharmacist. Check with your health care professional or doctor for additional medical advice, or if you have health questions, concerns.

Contraindications

• None

Effects of drug abuse

• None

Short-Term Effects

• See “What Are Side Effects Associated with Using Doripenem?”

Long-Term Effects

• See “What Are Side Effects Associated with Using Doripenem?”

Cautions

• History of sensitivity to multiple allergens
• May reduce serum valproic acid conc to subtherapeutic level: monitor levels frequently
• Risk of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea on long-term use
• Seizures reported with the use
• Not approved for ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (or any type of pneumonia); increased mortality when compared with imipenem/cilastatin (23% vs 16.7%); additionally, clinical response rates were lower with doripenem

Pregnancy and Lactation

• It may be acceptable during pregnancy

Lactation

• Unknown if excreted in breast milk; use caution