Is Diatrizoate safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what NIH LactMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's authority on medicines and breastfeeding, reports about Diatrizoate. This is a summary of that source — not our own verdict.
Effects on the breastfed infant
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Effects on milk supply
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Levels in milk
A woman who was 10 days postpartum received diatrizoate meglumine intravenously in a dose equivalent to 306 mg of iodine for phlebography. Bound iodine (presumably diatrizoate and any metabolites) in breastmilk was measured. Iodine was not found in the breastmilk until 2.25 hours after the dose when a concentration of 20 mg/L was detected. At 7 hours, a peak concentration of 22 mg/L occurred. Breastmilk iodine concentrations dropped after that until the concentration was 7.4 mg/L at 27 hours after the dose.[ 5 ] One woman who was 7 weeks postpartum received 50 mL of an iodinated contrast medium containing 38 grams of sodium and meglumine salts of diatrizoate by rapid intravenous injection for urography (intravenous pyelogram; IVP). The total dose of iodine in this dose was 18.5 grams. Milk samples were expressed at 6, 9, 13 and 16.5 hours after the dose. Diatrizoate was undetectable ( 2 mg/L) in any of the milk samples.[ 6 ] A woman received 300 mL of sodium and meglumine salts of diatrizoate by intravenous injection for pulmonary angiography for a suspected pulmonary embolism 48 hours after delivery by cesarean section. This dose contained a total of 93 grams of iodine. All milk produced for the next 5 days (collection method not stated) was saved for analysis. The total amount of iodine excreted into milk during the first 24 hours after the dose was 31 mg or 0.03% of the dose administered. On the second and third days after administration, 0.008% (7.6 mg) and 0.0005% (0.5 mg), respectively, of the iodine dose was excreted in milk. By day 5, the concentration of iodine in milk was 119 mcg/L, compared to the mean of 70 mcg/L in 200 samples of normal breastmilk in the same laboratory.[ 7 ] Infant Levels. Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Alternatives LactMed lists
“No published information” means the studies do not exist yet — not that Diatrizoate is known to be harmful, and not that it is known to be safe. Your prescriber or pharmacist can weigh your baby's age and whether a better-studied alternative would do the same job. Worth asking before stopping a medicine you need.
Source: NIH LactMed (National Library of Medicine).
Educational summary of an authoritative source — not medical advice. Never start, stop, or change a medicine while breastfeeding without confirming with your doctor.