Adrenal suppression corticosteroids

Systemic adverse effects are dose-dependent and are rare at low to medium doses however, high-dose inhaled corticosteroids have been associated with adrenal suppression, decreased bone mineral density, skin thinning, and easy bruising.3,29 Growth suppression in children may occur even with low-dose inhaled corticosteroids however, suppression appears to occur primarily in the first year of treatment and may be due to delayed growth with the potential of future catch-up growth.30... 

Although the optimal duration of systemic corticosteroids is unknown, therapy should be continued until PEF is greater than or equal to 80% of predicted or personal best. According to the NAEPP, the usual regimen is to continue frequent multiple doses until the patient s FEVi or PEF improves to 50% of predicted and then decrease the frequency to twice daily. In general, the duration of therapy ranges from 3 days for mild exacerbations to 14 days for severe exacerbations. It is not necessary to taper the systemic steroid dose in patients receiving short bursts of systemic corticosteroid therapy, as the adrenal suppression that occurs is transient and rapidly reversible.18... 

Side effects of inhaled corticosteroids are relatively mild and include hoarseness, sore throat, oral candidiasis, and skin bruising. Severe side effects such as adrenal suppression, osteoporosis, and cataract formation are reported less frequently than with systemic corticosteroids, but clinicians should monitor patients receiving high-dose chronic inhaled therapy. 

Long-term use of oral corticosteroids may result in side-effects, such as peptic ulceration, adrenal suppression and subcapsular cataracts. 

Giving exogenous corticosteroids suppresses ACTH secretion which results in adrenal gland atrophy. Therefore glucocorticosteroid doses should be tapered off to allow the patient to adjust and prevent symptoms of adrenal insufficiency. For the short acting glucocorticosteroids an alternate day regimen should be considered to lower the risks for adrenal suppression. 

IV.a.1.9. Adrenal suppression. It results from inhibition of pituitary ACTH secretion, and some suppression of the normal adrenal response to stress may persist for years after stopping therapy. Rapid withdrawal of corticosteroid therapy can therefore precipitate dangerous acute adrenal insufficiency ( Addisonian crisis , with hypotension, vomiting, coma and ultimately death), and for this reason steroid treatment should always be reduced gradually, sometimes over many months, according to the dose and duration of therapy. 

Urgent treatment is often begun with an oral dose of 30-60 mg prednisone per day or an intravenous dose of 1 mg/kg methylprednisolone every 6 hours the daily dose is decreased after airway obstruction has improved. In most patients, systemic corticosteroid therapy can be discontinued in a week or 10 days, but in other patients symptoms may worsen as the dose is decreased to lower levels. Because adrenal suppression by corticosteroids is related to dose and because secretion of endogenous corticosteroids has a diurnal variation, it is customary to administer corticosteroids early in the morning after endogenous ACTH secretion has peaked. For prevention of nocturnal asthma, however, oral or inhaled corticosteroids are most effective when given in the late afternoon. 

When corticosteroids are administered for more than 2 weeks, adrenal suppression may occur. If treatment extends over weeks to months, the patient should be given appropriate supplementary therapy at times of minor stress (two-fold dosage increases for 24-48 hours) or severe stress (up to ten-fold dosage increases for 48-72 hours) such as accidental trauma or major surgery. If corticosteroid dosage is to be reduced, it should be tapered slowly. If therapy is to be stopped, the reduction process should be quite slow when the dose reaches replacement levels. It may take 2-12 months for the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis to function acceptably, and cortisol levels may not return to normal for another 6-9 months. The glucocorticoid-induced suppression is not a pituitary problem, and treatment with ACTH does not reduce the time required for the return of normal function. 

Gilbertson EO, Spellman MC, Piacquadio DJ, Mulford MI. Super potent topical corticosteroid use associated with adrenal suppression clinical considerations. J Am Acad Dermatol 1998 38(2 Part 2) 318-21. 

Dunlop KA, Carson DJ, Shields MD. Hypoglycemia due to adrenal suppression secondary to high-dose nebulized corticosteroid. Pediatr Pulmonol 2002 34(l) 85-6. 

Corticosteroids are available in tablet, inhaled and intravenous dosage forms. Inhaled corticosteroids allow the control of asthma with minimal systemic absorption and thus reduce the risks associated with corticosteroids such as osteoporosis and adrenal suppression. These risks are greatly increased when taking systemic corticosteroids. 

CALCIUM CHANNEL BLOCKERS CORTICOSTEROIDS 1. Antihypertensive effects of calcium channel blockers are antagonized by corticosteroids 2. t adrenal-suppressive effects of dexamethasone, methylpred-nisolone and prednisolone when co-administered with diltiazem, nifedipine or verapamil. This may t the risk of infections and produce an inadequate response to stress scenarios 1. Mineralocorticoids cause sodium and water retention, which antagonizes the hypotensive effects of calcium channel blockers 2. Due to inhibition of metabolism of these corticosteroids 1. Monitor BP at least weekly until stable 2. Monitor cortisol levels and warn patients to report symptoms such as fever and sore throat... 

IMATINIB CORTICOSTEROIDS t adrenal suppressive effects of corticosteroids, which may t risk of infections and produce an inadequate response to stress scenarios Due to inhibition of metabolism of corticosteroids Monitor cortisol levels and warn patients to report symptoms such as fever and sore throat... 

Intralesional injection of steroid can lead to adrenal suppression. Infents and small children are especially susceptible, because a given amoimt of steroid is distributed in a smaller volume of fluid and tissue compartments. Infents injected with mixtiu es of triamcinolone acetonide and betamethasone or dexamethasone fiar periocular hemangiomas exhibited depressed serum cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone levels. The adrenal suppression can last up to 5 months and can result in weight loss and growth retardation. It is not known whether other corticosteroid preparations would produce similar effects or which other fectors might influence these results. In general, topical and periocular use of steroids produces minimal systemic effects. Withdrawal of topical or periocular steroids does not generally cause adrenal crisis. 

Orally administered corticosteroids are effective in the treatment of chronic bronchial asthma. The inhalation route has been widely used in attempts to avoid systemic side-effects, such as adrenal suppression, but evidence suggests that inhaled steroids are absorbed systemically to a significant extent. The respiratory tract epithelium has permeability characteristics similar to those of the classical biological membrane, so lipid-soluble compounds are absorbed more rapidly than lipid-insoluble molecules. Cortisone, hydrocortisone and dexamethasone are absorbed rapidly by a nonsaturable diffusion process from the lung, the half-time of absorption being of the order of 1-1.7 min. Quaternary ammonium compounds, hippurates and mannitol have absorption half-times, in contrast, of between 45 and 70 min. 

Horses appear to be more sensitive to the adrenosuppressive effects of aerosolized corticosteroids than human patients. Documentation of systemic absorption (adrenal suppression) of inhaled beclometasone and fluticasone raises concerns that other systemic glucocorticoid effects may occur following aerosol administration of corticosteroids. The administration of adrenosuppressive doses (>1600 p,g/day) of beclometasone dipropionate to asthmatic human patients does not produce the other systemic side-effects of glucocorticoid administration, including a roimd face (Cushingoid facies), polyuria, polydipsia, hyperglycemia, obesity, altered carbohydrate metabolism, osteoporosis, abortion, posterior subcapsular cataract and aseptic necrosis of the... 

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