Before Receiving This Medicine

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For sevoflurane, the following should be considered:

Allergies—Tell your doctor if you have or anyone in your family has ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to an anesthetic. Also tell your doctor if you are allergic to any other substances, such as foods, preservatives, or dyes.

Pregnancy—Sevoflurane has not been studied in pregnant women.

Breast-feeding—It is not known whether sevoflurane passes into breast milk. However, your doctor may want you to stop breast-feeding for about 24 hours after you receive the medicine.

Children—Sevoflurane has been tested in children. Sevoflurane may cause children to become agitated (excited) when it is used to start anesthesia when they are awake. Also, children receiving sevoflurane during surgery may become agitated as they awaken after surgery.

Older adults—Sevoflurane has been tested and does not cause different side effects in older people than in younger adults. However, older people usually need smaller amounts than younger people. Your doctor will consider your age in deciding on the right amount of sevoflurane for you.

Other medicines—Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are receiving an inhalation anesthetic, it is especially important that your doctor know if you are taking any other prescription or nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) medicine including any of the following:

• Aminoglycosides by injection (amikacin [e.g., Amikin], gentamicin [e.g., Garamycin], kanamycin [e.g., Kantrex], netilmicin [e.g., Netromycin], streptomycin [e.g., Strycin], tobramycin [e.g., Nebcin]) or
• Capreomycin (e.g., Capastat) or
• Clindamycin (e.g., Cleocin) or
• Lincomycin (e.g., Lincocin) or
• Polymyxins—Use of these medicines with sevoflurane may increase the effects of sevoflurane

Your doctor should be aware of any “street drugs” you are taking also.

Other medical problems—The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of sevoflurane. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:

• Diseases that can cause muscle weakness, such as familial periodic paralysis, muscular dystrophy, myasthenia gravis, or myasthenic syndrome—Weakness may be increased

• Head injury—Sevoflurane may make this condition worse

• Kidney disease—Sevoflurane may make this condition worse

• Liver disease—The effects of sevoflurane may be increased

• Malignant hyperthermia, during or shortly after receiving an anesthetic (history of, or a family history of)—This side effect may occur again

• Portwine stain—Sevoflurane may interfere with the laser treatment to remove portwine stain