Terlipressin Acetate

Adults: For short term management of bleeding oesophageal varices, Terlipressin Acetate is given as an i.v. injection of 2 mg (2x8.5 ml) every 4 hours at the start. Treatment continues until the bleeding has been controlled for 24 hours, but for no more than 48 hours. After the first dose, the dose can be lowered to 1 mg (8.5 ml) i.v. every 4 hours in patients with a body weight below 50 kg, or if adverse effects occur. In type 1 hepatorenal syndrome, the i.v. injection is 3 to 4 mg (3x8.5 ml to 4x8.5 ml) of Terlipressin Acetate every 24 hours, given as 3 or 4 administrations. If the serum creatinine has not fallen at all after 3 days of treatment, stopping Terlipressin Acetate is advised. In other cases, treatment is continued until the serum creatinine is less than 130 µmol/litre, or until it has dropped by at least 30% from the value measured when the hepatorenal syndrome was diagnosed. The standard average duration of treatment is 10 days.