Get your patient on Acetylcysteine - Acetylcysteine solution (Acetylcysteine)

Acetylcysteine is indicated as adjuvant therapy for patients with abnormal, viscid, or inspissated mucous secretions in such conditions as:

Chronic bronchopulmonary disease
(chronic emphysema, emphysema with bronchitis, chronic asthmatic bronchitis, tuberculosis, bronchiectasis and primary amyloidosis of the lung)

Acute bronchopulmonary disease
(pneumonia, bronchitis, tracheobronchitis)

Pulmonary complications of cystic fibrosis

Tracheostomy care

Pulmonary complications associated with surgery

Use during anesthesia

Post-traumatic chest conditions

Atelectasis due to mucous obstruction

Diagnostic bronchial studies (bronchograms, bronchospirometry, and bronchial wedge catheterization)

General

Acetylcysteine Solution 10% and 20% is available in glass vials containing 30 mL. The 20% solution may be diluted to a lesser concentration with either Sodium Chloride Inhalation Solution; Sodium Chloride Injection; or Sterile Water for Injection, or Sterile Water for Inhalation. The 10% solution may be used undiluted.

Storage of Opened Vials

This product does not contain an antimicrobial agent, and care must be taken to minimize contamination of the sterile solution. If only a portion of the solution in a vial is used, store the remainder in a refrigerator and use for inhalation only within 96 hours.

Nebulization — Face Mask, Mouth Piece, Tracheostomy

When nebulized into a face mask, mouth piece or tracheostomy, 1 to 10 mL of the 20% solution or 2 to 20 mL of the 10% solution may be given every 2 to 6 hours; the recommended dose for most patients is 3 to 5 mL of the 20% solution or 6 to 10 mL of the 10% solution 3 to 4 times a day.

Nebulization — Tent, Croupette

In special circumstances it may be necessary to nebulize into a tent or Croupette, and this method of use must be individualized to take into account the available equipment and the patient's particular needs. This form of administration requires very large volumes of the solution, occasionally as much as 300 mL during a single treatment period.

If a tent or Croupette must be used, the recommended dose is the volume of acetylcysteine (using 10% or 20%) that will maintain a very heavy mist in the tent or Croupette for the desired period. Administration for intermittent or continuous prolonged periods, including overnight, may be desirable.

Direct Instillation

When used by direct instillation, 1 to 2 mL of a 10% or 20% solution may be given as often as every hour.

When used for the routine nursing care of patients with tracheostomy, 1 to 2 mL of a 10% to 20% solution may be given every 1 to 4 hours by instillation into the tracheostomy.

Acetylcysteine may be introduced directly into a particular segment of the bronchopulmonary tree by inserting (under local anesthesia and direct vision) a small plastic catheter into the trachea. Two to 5 mL of the 20% solution may then be instilled by means of a syringe connected to the catheter.

Acetylcysteine may also be given through a percutaneous intratracheal catheter. One to 2 mL of the 20% or 2 to 4 mL of the 10% solution every 1 to 4 hours may then be given by a syringe attached to the catheter.

Diagnostic Bronchograms

For diagnostic bronchial studies, 2 or 3 administrations of 1 to 2 mL of the 20% solution or 2 to 4 mL of the 10% solution should be given by nebulization or by instillation intratracheally, prior to the procedure.

Administration of Aerosol

Materials

Acetylcysteine may be administered using conventional nebulizers made of plastic or glass. Certain materials used in nebulization equipment react with acetylcysteine. The most reactive of these are certain metals (notably iron and copper) and rubber. Where material may come into contact with acetylcysteine solution, parts made of the following acceptable materials should be used: glass, plastic, aluminum, anodized aluminum, chromed metal, tantalum, sterling silver, or stainless steel. Silver may become tarnished after exposure, but this is not harmful to the drug action or to the patient.

Nebulizing Gases

Compressed tank gas (air) or an air compressor should be used to provide pressure for nebulizing the solution. Oxygen may also be used but should be used with usual precautions in patients with severe respiratory disease and CO ₂ retention.

Apparatus

Acetylcysteine is usually administered as fine nebulae, and the nebulizer used should be capable of providing optimal quantities of a suitable range of particle sizes.

Commercially available nebulizers will produce nebulae of acetylcysteine satisfactory for retention in the respiratory tract. Most of the nebulizers tested will supply a high proportion of the drug solution as particles of less than 10 microns in diameter. Mitchell ² has shown that particles less than 10 microns should be retained in the respiratory tract satisfactorily.

Various intermittent positive pressure breathing devices nebulized acetylcysteine with a satisfactory efficiency including: No: 40 De Vilbiss (The De Vilbiss Co., Somerset, Pennsylvania) and the Bennett Twin-Jet Nebulizer (Puritan Bennett Corp., Oak at 13th, Kansas City, Missouri).

The nebulized solution may be inhaled directly from the nebulizer. Nebulizers may also be attached to plastic face masks or plastic mouthpieces. Suitable nebulizers may also be fitted for use with the various intermittent positive pressure breathing (IPPB) machines. The nebulizing equipment should be cleaned immediately after use because the residues may clog the smaller orifices or corrode metal parts.

Hand bulbs are not recommended for routine use for nebulizing acetylcysteine because their output is generally too small. Also, some hand-operated nebulizers deliver particles that are larger than optimum for inhalation therapy.

Acetylcysteine should not be placed directly into the chamber of a heated (hot pot) nebulizer. A heated nebulizer may be part of the nebulization assembly to provide a warm saturated atmosphere if the acetylcysteine aerosol is introduced by means of a separate unheated nebulizer. Usual precautions for administration of warm saturated nebulae should be observed.

The nebulized solution may be breathed directly from the nebulizer. Nebulizers may also be attached to plastic face masks, plastic face tents, plastic mouth pieces, conventional plastic oxygen tents, or head tents. Suitable nebulizers may also be fitted for use with the various intermittent positive pressure breathing (IPPB) machines.

The nebulizing equipment should be cleaned immediately after use, otherwise the residues may occlude the fine orifices or corrode metal parts.

Prolonged Nebulization

When three-fourths of the initial volume of acetylcysteine solution has been nebulized, a quantity of Sterile Water for Injection (approximately equal to the volume of solution remaining), should be added to the nebulizer. This obviates any concentration of the agent in the residual solvent remaining after prolonged nebulization.

Compatibility

The physical and chemical compatibility of acetylcysteine with certain other drugs that might be concomitantly administered by nebulization, direct instillation, or topical application, has been studied.

Acetylcysteine should not be mixed with certain antibiotics. For example, the antibiotics tetracycline hydrochloride, oxytetracycline hydrochloride, and erythromycin lactobionate were found to be incompatible when mixed in the same solution. These agents may be administered from separate solutions if administration of these agents is desirable.

The supplying of these data should not be interpreted as a recommendation for combining acetylcysteine with other drugs. The table is not presented as positive assurance that no incompatibility will be present, since these data are based only on short-term compatibility studies done in the Mead Johnson Research Center. Manufacturers may change their formulations, and this could alter compatibilities. These data are intended to serve only as a guide for predicting compounding problems.

If it is deemed advisable to prepare an admixture, it should be administered as soon as possible after preparation. Do not store unused mixtures.

Acetylcysteine is contraindicated in those patients who are sensitive to it.

Adverse effects have included stomatitis, nausea, vomiting, fever, rhinorrhea, drowsiness, clamminess, chest tightness, and bronchoconstriction. Clinically overt acetylcysteine induced bronchospasm occurs infrequently and unpredictably even in patients with asthmatic bronchitis or bronchitis complicating bronchial asthma.

Acquired sensitization to acetylcysteine have been reported rarely. Reports of sensitization in patients have not been confirmed by patch testing. Sensitization has been confirmed in several inhalation therapists who reported a history of dermal eruptions after frequent and extended exposure to acetylcysteine.

Reports of irritation to the tracheal and bronchial tracts have been received and although hemoptysis has occurred in patients receiving acetylcysteine such findings are not uncommon in patients with bronchopulmonary disease and a causal relationship has not been established.

Drug stability and safety of acetylcysteine when mixed with other drugs in a nebulizer have not been established.

Acetylcysteine solution is for inhalation (mucolytic agent) or oral administration (acetaminophen antidote), and available as sterile, unpreserved solutions (not for injection).

Acetylcysteine is the N-acetyl derivative of the naturally occurring amino acid, L-cysteine. Chemically, it is N-acetyl-L-cysteine.

The compound is a white crystalline powder which melts at 104°−110°C and has a very slight odor. The structural formula for acetylcysteine is as follows:

Molecular weight: 163.19

Each mL of the 10% solution contains acetylcysteine 100 mg; edetate disodium, dihydrate 0.25 mg.

Each mL of the 20% solution contains acetylcysteine 200 mg; edetate disodium, dihydrate 0.5 mg.

The solutions also contain sodium hydroxide and may contain hydrochloric acid for pH adjustment, pH 7.0 (6.0 to 7.5). Acetylcysteine Solution, USP is oxygen sensitive.

The viscosity of pulmonary mucous secretions depends on the concentrations of mucoprotein and to a lesser extent deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The latter increases with increasing purulence owing to the presence of cellular debris. The mucolytic action of acetylcysteine is related to the sulfhydryl group in the molecule. This group probably "opens" disulfide linkages in mucous thereby lowering the viscosity. The mucolytic activity of acetylcysteine is unaltered by the presence of DNA, and increases with increasing pH. Significant mucolysis occurs between pH 7 and 9.

Acetylcysteine undergoes rapid deacetylation in vivo to yield cysteine or oxidation to yield diacetylcystine.

Occasionally, patients exposed to the inhalation of an acetylcysteine aerosol respond with the development of increased airways obstruction of varying and unpredictable severity. Those patients who are reactors cannot be identified a priori from a random patient population. Even when patients are known to have reacted previously to the inhalation of an acetylcysteine aerosol, they may not react during a subsequent treatment. The converse is also true; patients who have had inhalation treatments of acetylcysteine without incident may still react to a subsequent inhalation with increased airways obstruction. Most patients with bronchospasm are quickly relieved by the use of a bronchodilator given by nebulization. If bronchospasm progresses, the medication should be discontinued immediately.

Acetylcysteine Solution, USP is supplied in teartop vials as follows:

The 20% solution may be diluted to a lesser concentration with either Sodium Chloride for Injection, Sodium Chloride for Inhalation, Sterile Water for Injection, or Sterile Water for Inhalation. The 10% solution may be used undiluted.

Store at 20 to 25°C (68 to 77°F). [See USP Controlled Room Temperature.]

Store in refrigerator 2° to 8°C (36° to 46°F) after opening. Discard opened vial after 96 hours.

Acetylcysteine solution does not contain an antimicrobial agent, and care must be taken to minimize contamination of the sterile solution. Dilutions of acetylcysteine should be used freshly prepared and utilized within one hour. If only a portion of the solution in a vial is used, store the remaining undiluted portion in a refrigerator and use within 96 hours.

A change in color may occur after opening; this does not change the efficacy of the drug.