dobutamine hydrochloride at a glance
Medicine class
Positive inotrope and sympathomimetic.
Administration
Given into a vein by trained healthcare professionals using a controlled infusion.
Monitoring
Heart rhythm, heart rate, blood pressure, urine output and clinical response are monitored closely.
Diagnostic role
Can simulate exercise during a stress echocardiogram by making the heart beat harder and faster.
What is dobutamine hydrochloride used for?
Licensed uses represented by the selected UK product include:
Inotropic support in adults with cardiac decompensation caused by reduced heart-muscle contractility.
Additional circulatory support in selected cardiogenic or septic shock when ventricular function is impaired.
Inotropic support for children, including newborn babies, with low cardiac output and poor tissue perfusion associated with specified cardiac conditions or septic shock.
Adult stress echocardiography when exercise testing is unsuitable or uninformative.
How does dobutamine hydrochloride work?
Dobutamine mainly stimulates beta-1 receptors, strengthening heart contractions and increasing the amount of blood pumped. It can also increase heart rate and alter vascular tone. During stress echocardiography, increased cardiac work can reveal abnormal heart-muscle movement or contractile reserve.
dobutamine hydrochloride preparations and strengths
Solution for infusion
Route: Intravenous
Strengths: 5 mg/mL, 12.5 mg/mL
How to take dobutamine hydrochloride
Dobutamine is not taken by mouth. Trained staff administer it into a vein where cardiovascular monitoring and emergency treatment are available.
Do not adjust, disconnect or handle the infusion yourself.
Tell staff promptly about chest discomfort, breathlessness, dizziness, palpitations or infusion-site pain.
For stress echocardiography, follow the hospital’s instructions about food, drink and regular medicines. Do not stop heart medicines unless instructed by the clinical team.
dobutamine hydrochloride side effects
Common or expected effects
- Faster heartbeat or palpitations
- Raised or lowered blood pressure
- Extra or abnormal heartbeats
- Headache
- Nausea
- Chest discomfort
- Shortness of breath or bronchospasm
- Rash, fever or vein irritation
- Restlessness, tremor, tingling, warmth or anxiety
Get urgent medical advice
- Severe allergic reaction, including facial or throat swelling, wheezing or collapse
- Sustained or dangerous abnormal heart rhythm
- Severe chest pain, myocardial ischaemia or heart attack
- Cardiac arrest
- Severe blood-pressure disturbance or fainting
- Takotsubo stress cardiomyopathy during stress echocardiography
- Severe tissue injury after leakage outside the vein
dobutamine hydrochloride in pregnancy
Human pregnancy safety data are inadequate. Use requires specialist assessment and should occur only when the expected benefit outweighs potential fetal risk and no safer suitable alternative is available.
dobutamine hydrochloride while breastfeeding
It is unknown whether dobutamine passes into breast milk. The selected product information advises caution and interruption of breastfeeding while treatment is required; plan this with the specialist team.
dobutamine hydrochloride interactions
Clinicians should review all current medicines because cardiovascular effects and diagnostic performance can be altered.
Beta-blockers
May reduce cardiac stimulation and make alpha-mediated vasoconstriction more prominent.
Alpha-blockers
May make tachycardia and peripheral vasodilation more prominent.
Nitrates or sodium nitroprusside
May produce a greater increase in cardiac output and larger reductions in vascular resistance and filling pressure.
Insulin and other diabetes treatment
Common questions about dobutamine hydrochloride
Answers are fully visible for fast scanning and source review.
Why is dobutamine hydrochloride given in hospital?
It can rapidly change heart rate, rhythm and blood pressure, so trained staff must administer it with close cardiovascular monitoring.
Is dobutamine hydrochloride used for heart failure?
Yes. It is licensed for short-term inotropic support when reduced heart-muscle contractility causes cardiac decompensation; it is not presented as routine long-term therapy.
Why is it used during a stress echocardiogram?
Sources
These sources were used to prepare and review this medicine page.
Prepared and reviewed by the iatroX editorial team.