SUCRALFATE - SAFETY AND SIDE-EFFECTS

The safety of sucralfate in terms of aluminium absorption, excretion, tissue accumulation, and toxicity is discussed, with special reference to the small amount of aluminium absorbed, its ready excretion by the normal kidney, and the hazard of toxicity in patients with advanced renal failure. The various manifestations of aluminium toxicity are described, and the notion that Alzheimer's disease should be included in this category is refuted. The clinical relevance of possible intraluminal binding and drug-drug interactions in patients receiving sucralfate therapy is also considered. Evidence is presented to show that sucralfate reduces the hyperphosphataemia in chronic uraemia, albeit at the risk of raised blood aluminium levels, but has no measurable effect on normal phosphate levels in patients with good renal function. The bioavailability of phenytoin, fluoroquinolone antibiotics, and H-2-receptor blockers may be impaired by concomitatn dosing with sucralfate, but normal kinetics are restored by administering the drug 2 h before sucralfate.