Colchicine

Usual Dosing (Adults)

The recommended dosage of colchicine depends on the patient's age, renal function, hepatic function, and use of co-administered drugs

Prophylaxis of Gout Flares:
The recommended dosage of colchicine for prophylaxis of gout flares for adults and adolescents older than 16 years of age is 0.6 mg once or twice daily. The maximum recommended dose for prophylaxis of gout flares is 1.2 mg/day.

Treatment of Gout Flares:
The recommended dose of colchicine for treatment of a gout flare is 1.2 mg (2 tablets) at the first sign of the flare followed by 0.6 mg (1 tablet) one hour later. Higher doses have not been found to be more effective. The maximum recommended dose for treatment of gout flares is 1.8 mg over a 1 hour period. colchicine may be administered for treatment of a gout flare during prophylaxis at doses not to exceed 1.2 mg (2 tablets) at the first sign of the flare followed by 0.6 mg (1 tablet) one hour later. Wait 12 hours and then resume the prophylactic dose.

Renal Dosing

Prophylaxis of Gout Flares:
For prophylaxis of gout flares in patients with mild (estimated creatinine clearance Clcr 50 – 80 mL/min) to moderate (Clcr 30 – 50 mL/min) renal function impairment, adjustment of the recommended dose is not required, but patients should be monitored closely for adverse effects of colchicine.

However, in patients with severe impairment, the starting dose should be 0.3 mg per day and any increase in dose should be done with close monitoring. For the prophylaxis of gout flares in patients undergoing dialysis, the starting doses should be 0.3 mg given twice a week with close monitoring

Treatment of Gout Flares:
For treatment of gout flares in patients with mild (Clcr 50 – 80 mL/min) to moderate (Clcr 30 – 50 mL/min) renal function impairment, adjustment of the recommended dose is not required, but patients should be monitored closely for adverse effects of colchicine. However, in patients with severe impairment, while the dose does not need to be adjusted for the treatment of gout flares, a treatment course should be repeated no more than once every 2 weeks. For patients with gout flares requiring repeated courses consideration should be given to alternate therapy. For patients undergoing dialysis, the total recommended dose for the treatment of gout flares should be reduced to a single dose of 0.6 mg (1 tablet). For these patients, the treatment course should not be repeated more than once every 2 weeks

Treatment of gout flares with Colchicine is not recommended in patients with renal impairment who are receiving Colchicine for prophylaxis.

Creatinine clearance for males =	[140-age (years)]× [body wt (kg)] 72 × [serum creatinine (mg/dL)]
Creatinine clearance for females =	[140-age (years)]× [body wt (kg)]× 0.85 72 × [serum creatinine (mg/dL)]

Hemodialysis

See comments above.

Reference(s)

National Institutes of Health, U.S. National Library of Medicine, DailyMed Database.
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