Is Iodixanol safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what NIH LactMed, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's authority on medicines and breastfeeding, reports about Iodixanol. 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
Maternal Levels. A mother was given 100 mL of iodixanol (containing 320 mg of iodine per mL) intravenously immediately postpartum for diagnosis of severe abdominal pain. She was found to have a hematoma resulting in acute tubular necrosis with a serum creatinine of 2.5 mg/dL (222 micromoles/L). Breastmilk samples taken on days 1 and 4 postpartum contained 55 and 28 mg/L of iodine, respectively. The authors calculated that the infant would receive 0.017% of the total administered maternal dose of iodine on day 1 and 0.05% on day 4 postpartum.[ 5 ] However, these values could be somewhat different in a patient with normal kidney function. 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 Iodixanol 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.