2024 Volume 27 Issue 2 Pages 80-85
Amiodarone is widely used to treat life-threatening arrhythmias in adults. This study included 314 patients who received amiodarone intravenously via a peripheral vein at our hospital from January 2008 to December 2021. Of these, 40 (12.7%) patients developed phlebitis. We compared the time from the administration of branded versus generic amiodarone to the onset of phlebitis. The results revealed that the time to phlebitis onset was shorter with generic amiodarone than the branded equivalent (p<0.001). The generic group also exhibited a higher increase in the white blood cell ratio from the start of administration to the onset of phlebitis than the branded group (p=0.04). These results suggest potential dangers associated with the use of generic amiodarone. Information available on the safety of generic intravenous medicines is limited, and further research is warranted to identify the causes of the differences observed in this study.
