PRECAUTIONS
General
Opioid analgesics should be used with caution when combined with CNS depressant drugs, and should be reserved for cases where the benefits of opioid analgesia outweigh the known risks of respiratory depression, altered mental state, and postural hypotension.
PERCODAN (aspirin and oxycodone hydrochloride) tablets should be given with caution to patients with CNS depression, elderly or debilitated patients, patients with severe impairment of hepatic, pulmonary, or renal function, hypothyroidism, Addison's disease, prostatic hypertrophy, urethral stricture, acute alcoholism, delirium tremens, kyphoscoliosis with respiratory depression, myxedema, and toxic psychosis.
PERCODAN (aspirin and oxycodone hydrochloride) tablets may obscure the diagnosis or clinical course in patients with acute abdominal conditions. Oxycodone may aggravate convulsions in patients with convulsive disorders, and all opioids may induce or aggravate seizures in some clinical settings.
Following administration of PERCODAN (aspirin and oxycodone hydrochloride) tablets, anaphylactic reactions have been reported in patients with a known hypersensitivity to codeine, a compound with a structure similar to morphine and oxycodone. The frequency of this possible cross-sensitivity is unknown.
Aspirin has been associated with elevated hepatic enzymes, blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine, hyperkalemia, proteinuria, and prolonged bleeding time.
Hemorrhage
Aspirin may increase the likelihood of hemorrhage due to its effect on the gastric mucosa and platelet function (prolongation of bleeding time). Salicylates should be used with caution in the presence of peptic ulcer or coagulation abnormalities.
Interactions with Other CNS Depressants
Patients receiving other opioid analgesics, general anesthetics, phenothiazines, other tranquilizers, centrally-acting anti-emetics, sedative-hypnotics or other CNS depressants (including alcohol) concomitantly with PERCODAN (aspirin and oxycodone hydrochloride) tablets may exhibit an additive CNS depression. When such combined therapy is contemplated, the dose of one or both agents should be reduced.
Interactions with Mixed Agonist/Antagonist Opioid Analgesics
Agonist/antagonist analgesics (i.e., pentazocine, nalbuphine, and butorphanol) should be administered with caution to a patient who has received or is receiving a course of therapy with a pure opioid agonist analgesic such as oxycodone. In this situation, mixed agonist/antagonist analgesics may reduce the analgesic effect of oxycodone and/or may precipitate withdrawal symptoms in these patients.
Ambulatory Surgery and Postoperative Use
Oxycodone and other morphine-like opioids have been shown to decrease bowel
motility. Ileus is a common postoperative complication, especially after intra-abdominal
surgery with use of opioid analgesia. Caution should be taken to monitor for
decreased bowel motility in postoperative patients receiving opioids. Standard
supportive therapy should be implemented.
Use in Pancreatic/Biliary Tract Disease
Oxycodone may cause spasm of the sphincter of Oddi and should be used with caution in patients with biliary tract disease, including acute pancreatitis. Opioids like oxycodone may cause increases in the serum amylase level.
Tolerance and Physical Dependence
Tolerance is the need for increasing doses of opioids to maintain a defined effect such as analgesia (in the absence of disease progression or other external factors). Physical dependence is manifested by withdrawal symptoms after abrupt discontinuation of a drug or upon administration of an antagonist. Physical dependence and tolerance are not unusual during chronic opioid therapy.
The opioid abstinence or withdrawal syndrome is characterized by some or all of the following: restlessness, lacrimation, rhinorrhea, yawning, perspiration, chills, myalgia, and mydriasis. Other symptoms also may develop, including: irritability, anxiety, backache, joint pain, weakness, abdominal cramps, insomnia, nausea, anorexia, vomiting, diarrhea, or increased blood pressure, respiratory rate, or heart rate.
In general, opioids should not be abruptly discontinued (see DOSAGE AND
ADMINISTRATION: Cessation of Therapy).
Laboratory Tests
Although oxycodone may cross-react with some drug urine tests, no available studies were found which determined the duration of detectability of oxycodone in urine drug screens. However, based on pharmacokinetic data, the approximate duration of detectability for a single dose of oxycodone is roughly estimated to be one to two days following drug exposure.
Urine testing for opiates may be performed to determine illicit drug use and for medical reasons such as evaluation of patients with altered states of consciousness or monitoring efficacy of drug rehabilitation efforts. The preliminary identification of opiates in urine involves the use of an immunoassay screening and thin-layer chromatography (TLC). Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) may be utilized as a third-stage identification step in the medical investigational sequence for opiate testing after immunoassay and TLC. The identities of 6-keto opiates (e.g., oxycodone) can further be differentiated by the analysis of their methoxime-trimethylsilyl (MO-TMS) derivative.
Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility
Carcinogenesis
Animal studies to evaluate the carcinogenic potential of oxycodone and aspirin have not been performed.
Mutagenesis
The combination of oxycodone and aspirin has not been evaluated for mutagenicity.
Oxycodone alone was negative in a bacterial reverse mutation assay (Ames), an
in vitro chromosome aberration assay with human lymphocytes without metabolic
activation and an in vivo mouse micronucleus assay. Oxycodone was clastogenic
in the human lymphocyte chromosomal assay in the presence of metabolic activation
and in the mouse lymphoma assay with or without metabolic activation. Aspirin
induced chromosome aberrations in cultured human fibroblasts.
Fertility
Animal studies to evaluate the effects of oxycodone on fertility have not been performed. Aspirin has been shown to inhibit ovulation in rats.
Pregnancy
Teratogenic Effects
Oxycodone: Pregnancy Category B
Reproduction studies in rats and rabbits demonstrated that oral administration of oxycodone was not teratogenic or embryo-fetal toxic.
Aspirin: Pregnancy Category D
(see PRECAUTIONS)
Salicylates readily cross the placenta and by inhibiting prostaglandin synthesis, may cause constriction of ductus arteriosus resulting in pulmonary hypertension and increased fetal mortality and, possibly other untoward fetal effects. Aspirin use in pregnancy can also result in alteration in maternal and neonatal hemostasis mechanisms. Maternal aspirin use during later stages of pregnancy may cause low birth weight, increased incidence of intracranial hemorrhage in premature infants, stillbirths and neonatal death. Use during pregnancy, especially in the third trimester, should be avoided.
Safe use of PERCODAN (Oxycodone and Aspirin Tablets, USP) in pregnancy has not been established relative to possible adverse effects on fetal development. Therefore, PERCODAN (aspirin and oxycodone hydrochloride) tablets should not be used in pregnant women unless, in the judgment of the physician, the potential benefits outweigh the possible hazards.
Nonteratogenic Effects
Opioids can cross the placental barrier and have the potential to cause neonatal respiratory depression. Opioid use during pregnancy may result in a physically drug-dependent fetus. After birth, the neonate may suffer severe withdrawal symptoms. Aspirin may produce anemia, ante-or postpartum hemorrhage, prolonged gestation and labor, and oligohydramnios.
Labor and Delivery
PERCODAN (aspirin and oxycodone hydrochloride) tablets are not recommended for use in women during and immediately prior to labor and delivery due to its potential effects on respiratory function in the newborn. Aspirin should be avoided one week prior to and during labor and delivery because it can result in excessive blood loss at delivery. Prolonged gestation and prolonged labor due to prostaglandin inhibition have been reported.
Nursing Mothers
Ordinarily, nursing should not be undertaken while a patient is receiving PERCODAN (aspirin and oxycodone hydrochloride)
tablets because of the possibility of sedation and/or respiratory depression
in the infant. Oxycodone is excreted in breast milk in low concentrations, and
there have been rare reports of somnolence and lethargy in babies of nursing
mothers taking an oxycodone/acetaminophen product. Salicylic acid has also been
detected in breast milk. Adverse effects on platelet function in the nursing
infant exposed to aspirin in breast milk may be a potential risk. Furthermore,
the risk of Reye Syndrome caused by salicylate in breast milk is unknown.
Because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in nursing infants, a
decision should be made whether to discontinue nursing or to discontinue the
drug, taking into account the potential benefits to the woman and the possible
hazards to the nursing infant.
Pediatric Use
PERCODAN (aspirin and oxycodone hydrochloride) tablets should not be administered to pediatric patients. Reye Syndrome is a rare but serious disease which can follow flu or chicken pox in children and teenagers. While the cause of Reye Syndrome is unknown, some reports claim aspirin (or salicylates) may increase the risk of developing this disease.
Geriatric Use
Special precaution should be given when determining the dosing amount and frequency of PERCODAN (aspirin and oxycodone hydrochloride) tablets for geriatric patients, since clearance of oxycodone may be slightly reduced in this patient population when compared to younger patients.
Hepatic Impairment
In a pharmacokinetic study of oxycodone in patients with end-stage liver disease, oxycodone plasma clearance decreased and the elimination half-life increased. Care should be exercised when oxycodone is used in patients with hepatic impairment.
Avoid aspirin in patients with severe hepatic impairment.
Renal Impairment
In a study of patients with end stage renal impairment, mean elimination half-life of oxycodone was prolonged in uremic patients due to increased volume of distribution and reduced clearance. Oxycodone should be used with caution in patients with renal impairment.
Avoid aspirin in patients with severe renal impairment (glomerular filtration rate less than 10 mL/minute).