Last update Nov. 26, 2024
Likely Compatibility
Suggestions made at e-lactancia are done by APILAM team of health professionals, and are based on updated scientific publications. It is not intended to replace the relationship you have with your doctor but to compound it. The pharmaceutical industry contraindicates breastfeeding, mistakenly and without scientific reasons, in most of the drug data sheets.
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e-lactancia is a resource recommended by La Liga de la Leche, España of Spain
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Dimercaprol or British Anti-Lewisite (BAL) is a chelating agent used as an antidote in the treatment of acute poisoning by arsenic, gold, mercury, lead and other heavy metals such as antimony or bismuth. It has also been used in Wilson's disease (copper accumulation). Intramuscular administration in one or more daily doses for 10 to 15 days depending on the metal causing the intoxication.
At the date of the last update we found no published data on its excretion in breast milk.
The scarcity of known pharmacokinetic data does not allow predicting its possible passage into breast milk.
It is widely distributed in the body, but is concentrated in the kidney, liver and small intestine. Dimercaprol is rapidly metabolized and metabolites and dimercaprol metal chelates are excreted in the urine and bile. Elimination is virtually complete within 4 hours of a single dose.
Pediatric dosing is available and has been used in infants 5 months of age. (Kokori 1999)
Do not breastfeed while the mother is intoxicated, nor administer expressed milk, since the causative metals may be in breast milk and the clinical condition of the mother may not be good. Metals chelated with BAL are eliminated by urine and bile and, although it is very unlikely that they pass into milk, a prudent position would be to express and discard the milk until the levels of the causative metal are normal, in which case breast-feeding could be resumed 4 hours after the last administration of Dimecaprol.
Avoid if possible, especially if the infant is premature or less than 1 month old. Monitor infant for side-effects (haemolysis and jaundice). Avoid in G-6-PD deficient infants. (WHO 2002)