Digoxin Pharmacology and Monitoring
• Digoxin’s half-life is 30-45 hours in healthy adults
• When monitoring digoxin, blood levels should be drawn no sooner than 6 hours after the most recent dose.
• Therapeutic digoxin levels should fall between 0.6 – 1.2 nmol/L despite reference ranges of up to 2.6 nmol/L.
• An elevated digoxin level alone is rarely an indication to give digiFab. More important indications include lifethreatening dysrhythmias, significantly altered mental status, or significant GI side effects.
- Any level > 19 nmol/L or a >6-hour level >12.8 nmol/L are often considered an indication for digiFab alone
By Dr. Kathryn Watson @Kat_Watson
#Digoxin #Pharmacology #Monitoring #toxicology #management #toxicity #digitalis
