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Approved Formulary
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PHENobarbital
PHENobarbital
Brand names: Luminal, Sezaby (Pediatric)
| Form | Strength |
|---|---|
| SOLUTION, INJECTABLE | 65 mg/mL; 130 mg/mL |
| SOLUTION, INTRAVENOUS | 100 mg vial (Pediatric - IV only) |
| TABLET, ORAL | 32.4 mg |
Medication comments:
| Adult Extravasation Management | ||
|---|---|---|
| PHENobarbital (Luminal, Sezaby, Solfoton) | ||
| Agent type: | Non-Chemotherapeutic |
| Vesicant/Irritant: | Vesicant |
| Local Care: | Warm or cold compress |
| Antidote: | None |
| 2023 American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria® for potentially inappropriate medication use in older adults. | |
|---|---|
| Medication: | PHENobarbital (Luminal) |
| Criteria 1: Potentially inappropriate medication use in older adults. (Table 2) | |
| Drug(s) | barbiturates |
| Rationale | High rate of physical dependence, tolerance to sleep benefits, greater risk of overdose at low dosages. |
| Recommendation | Avoid |
| Quality of evidence: High, Strength of Recommendation: Strong | |
| Criteria 2: Potentially inappropriate medication use in older adults due to drug–disease or drug–syndrome interactions that may exacerbate the disease or syndrome. (Table 3) | |
| Drug(s) ⇆ disease or syndrome | antiepileptics ⇄ History of falls or fractures |
| Rationale | May cause ataxia, impaired psychomotor function, syncope, or additional falls. If one of the drugs must be used, consider reducing the use of other CNS-active medications that increase the risk of falls and fractures. (i.e., anticholinergics, selected antidepressants, antiepileptics, antipsychotics, sedative/hypnotics including benzodiazepines and, Nonbenzodiazepine benzodiazepine receptor agonist hypnotics, opioids) and implement other strategies to reduce fall risk. |
| Recommendation | Avoid except for seizures and mood disorders. |
| Quality of evidence: High, Strength of Recommendation: Strong | |
| Criteria 4: Potentially clinically important drug-drug interactions that should be avoided in older adults. (Table 5) | |
| Interacting drug(s) or class(es) | antiepileptics (including gabapentinoids) ⇄ CNS-active agents |
| Risk Rationale | Increased risk of falls and of fracture with the concurrent use of ≥3 CNS-active agents (antiepileptics including gabapentinoids, antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, Nonbenzodiazepine benzodiazepine receptor agonist hypnotics, opioids, and skeletal muscle relaxants). |
| Recommendation | Avoid concurrent use of ≥3 CNS-active drugs Click for list; minimize the number of CNS-active drugs. |
| Quality of evidence: High, Strength of Recommendation: Strong | |
Last updated: Sep. 19, 2025
- Look-Alike/Sound-Alike PHENobarbital confused with PENTobarbital