Metvex Dosage/Direction for Use

Metoclopramide is usually given as the hydrochloride monohydrate with doses expressed as the anhydrous hydrochloride. The recommended dose by mouth, intramuscularly, or by slow intravenous injection, is 10 mg (expressed as anhydrous metoclopramide hydrochloride) three times daily. Single doses should be considered where appropriate and single doses of 10 mg to 20 mg (expressed as anhydrous base or anhydrous hydrochloride) have been used. The use of metoclopramide is restricted in patients under 20 years of age to severe intractable vomiting of known cause, chemotherapy- or radiotherapy-induced vomiting, as an aid to gastrointestinal intubation, and in premedication. Suggested doses for those aged 15 to 19 years and weighing 60 kg and over are 10 mg three times daily; 5 mg three times daily for patients 15 to 19 years old and weighing 30 to 59 kg; 9 to14 years (30 kg and over), 5 mg three times daily; 5 to 9 years (20 to 29 kg), 2.5 mg three times daily; 3 to 5 years (15 to 19 kg), 2 mg two or three times daily; 1 to 3 years (10 to 14 kg), 1 mg two to three times daily; and under 1 year (up to 10 kg) 1 mg twice daily. Where body-weight is below that specified for a given age group, the dose should reflect the weight rather than the age, so that a lower dose is chosen or as prescribed by the physician.
High dose therapy. High doses of metoclopramide have been used in the treatment of the nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy often in combination with other agents such as dexamethasone. The loading dose of metoclopramide given before cancer therapy is 2 to 4 mg per body-weight administered as a continuous intravenous infusion over 15 to 20 minutes and is followed by a maintenance dose of 3 to 5 mg per kg, again as a continuous intravenous infusion, administered over 8 to 12 hours. Alternatively, initial doses up to 2 mg per kg by intravenous infusion over at least 15 minutes may be given before cancer therapy and repeated every 2 or 3 hours. The total dosage by either continuous or intermittent infusion should not normally exceed 10 mg per kg in 24 hours.