Potassium Chloride and Dextrose Monohydrate side effects: what 92,005 FDA adverse event reports show
Drug class
Not stated in label
Who reports
92,005 reports · 75% serious · 13,519 with death outcome · 62% female
Used for
Dextrose Injection (5%) is indicated as a source of water and calories in adult and pediatric patients, and may also be used as a diluent for reconstitution of a powder or liquid drug product. Dextrose Injection (5%) is indicated as a source of water and calories in adult and pediatric patients, and may also be used as a diluent for reconstitution of a powder or liquid drug product. ( 1 )
What it is
Dextrose Injection USP (5%) is a sterile, nonpyrogenic, and isotonic solution and contains no bacteriostatic or antimicrobial agents. This product is intended for intravenous administration. The formula of the active ingredient is: Ingredient Molecular Formula Molecular Weight Hydrous Dextrose USP 198.17
Boxed warning
None in the current label
Causality screen of the 40 strongest signals
What the badges mean
- Labeled (related wording) The label describes this effect under different wording (e.g. 'neutropenia' for 'neutrophil count decreased'). Treated as known.
- Reporting / coding artifact An administrative, monitoring or exposure term (product issue, off-label use, 'test normal', overdose...). Not a biological reaction; a high PRR here reflects how reports are coded.
- Lab value / disease marker A laboratory result, investigation or disease-activity marker (antibody positive, CRP abnormal, swollen joint count) not described in the label. These usually mirror the monitored disease or testing protocol rather than a drug effect; not screened further.
- Not in label — unassessed Not found in the label text, not an artifact pattern. This is a genuine candidate for a formal causality assessment (Bradford Hill / WHO-UMC); it has NOT had one here.
Strongest disproportionality signals
Flagged terms (PRR ≥ 2, χ² ≥ 4, n ≥ 10), ranked by PRR; infinite PRRs (no comparator reports) excluded. The EBGM column is a second, shrinkage-based estimate (MGPS) with its 5th percentile EB05 and the BCPNN IC025; a pair flagged by PRR alone is marked PRR-only and should be read as fragile. The strata column recomputes the PRR on serious reports only (and, for the 300 most-reported drugs, adjusted for age band), and flags pairs whose reports are unusually skewed by sex or come mostly from consumers. Each row also shows the PRR against the other drugs of the same FDA class, which removes most confounding by the condition being treated, and a calibrated p-value: on validation, known non-causes average an ROR of about 2, so significance is judged against that empirical null (✓ = p < 0.05 after calibration). 1,157 further terms are in the interactive explorer. Reaction links open the term's cross-drug page.
| Reaction | Reports | PRR 95% CI · ROR · χ²/p | EBGM EB05 · IC025 | Label screen | Serious-only & strata | Trial cross-check |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vaginal flatulence | 183 | 344.0 273.1–433.3ROR 344.7 · calibrated p 5e-12 ✓ | 134.3 EB05 118.7 · IC025 +6.4 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=183 · ♀ 100% (drug 62%) · 100% clinician | no trial arm names this drug |
| Appendicolith | 206 | 272.7 222.5–334.2ROR 273.3 · calibrated p 4e-11 ✓ | 122.1 EB05 108.7 · IC025 +6.3 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=206 · ♀ 0% (drug 62%) · 100% clinician | no trial arm names this drug |
| Sleep disorder therapy | 97 | 249.4 186.8–333.1ROR 249.7 · calibrated p 1e-10 ✓ | 115.8 EB05 97.7 · IC025 +5.9 3/3 methods agree | Reporting / coding artifact | serious n=97 · ♀ 0% (drug 62%) · 100% clinician | no trial arm names this drug |
| Analgesic therapy | 92 | 97.5 76.4–124.6ROR 97.6 · calibrated p 2e-7 ✓ | 67.3 EB05 56.5 · IC025 +5.3 3/3 methods agree | Reporting / coding artifact | serious n=92 · ♀ 0% (drug 62%) · 100% clinician | no trial arm names this drug |
| Drug therapy | 85 | 82.3 64.2–105.5ROR 82.4 · calibrated p 7e-7 ✓ | 59.7 EB05 49.8 · IC025 +5.1 3/3 methods agree | Reporting / coding artifact | serious n=85 · ♀ 0% (drug 62%) · 100% clinician | no trial arm names this drug |
| Device maintenance issue | 84 | 39.7 31.5–50.1ROR 39.8 · calibrated p 7e-5 ✓ | 33.7 EB05 28.0 · IC025 +4.5 3/3 methods agree | Reporting / coding artifact | ♀ 100% (drug 62%) · 100% consumer | no trial arm names this drug |
| Female genital tract fistula | 199 | 29.7 25.6–34.4ROR 29.7 · calibrated p 3e-4 ✓ | 26.3 EB05 23.3 · IC025 +4.4 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=199 · ♀ 100% (drug 62%) | no trial arm names this drug |
| Radiculopathy | 241 | 22.8 20.0–26.1ROR 22.9 · calibrated p 0.001 ✓ | 20.8 EB05 18.7 · IC025 +4.1 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=241 · ♀ 88% (drug 62%) | no trial arm names this drug |
| Hyperphosphataemia | 171 | 19.9 17.0–23.3ROR 19.9 · calibrated p 0.002 ✓ | 18.3 EB05 16.1 · IC025 +3.9 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=171 · ♀ 0% (drug 62%) · 100% clinician | no trial arm names this drug |
| Infusion site discharge | 126 | 18.0 15.1–21.6ROR 18.1 · calibrated p 0.003 ✓ | 16.7 EB05 14.4 · IC025 +3.7 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=68 · ♀ 100% (drug 62%) · 100% consumer | no trial arm names this drug |
| Chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorder | 79 | 18.0 14.3–22.6ROR 18.0 · calibrated p 0.004 ✓ | 16.6 EB05 13.8 · IC025 +3.6 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=79 · ♀ 0% (drug 62%) | no trial arm names this drug |
| Proctitis | 198 | 17.2 14.9–19.9ROR 17.3 · calibrated p 0.004 ✓ | 16.0 EB05 14.2 · IC025 +3.7 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=198 · ♀ 100% (drug 62%) · 100% clinician | no trial arm names this drug |
| Chronic sinusitis | 261 | 17.0 15.0–19.3ROR 17.0 · calibrated p 0.004 ✓ | 15.8 EB05 14.3 · IC025 +3.7 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=259 · ♀ 100% (drug 62%) | no trial arm names this drug |
| Cardioactive drug level increased | 92 | 16.9 13.7–20.9ROR 16.9 · calibrated p 0.005 ✓ | 15.7 EB05 13.2 · IC025 +3.5 3/3 methods agree | Lab value / disease marker | serious n=89 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Left atrial dilatation | 83 | 15.7 12.5–19.6ROR 15.7 · calibrated p 0.006 ✓ | 14.6 EB05 12.1 · IC025 +3.4 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=83 · ♀ 0% (drug 62%) | no trial arm names this drug |
| Oesophageal spasm | 118 | 15.5 12.9–18.7ROR 15.5 · calibrated p 0.006 ✓ | 14.5 EB05 12.4 · IC025 +3.5 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=115 · ♀ 100% (drug 62%) | no trial arm names this drug |
| Blood phosphorus increased | 171 | 15.2 13.0–17.7ROR 15.2 · calibrated p 0.007 ✓ | 14.2 EB05 12.5 · IC025 +3.5 3/3 methods agree | Lab value / disease marker | serious n=168 · ♀ 0% (drug 62%) · 100% clinician | no trial arm names this drug |
| Hyperparathyroidism secondary | 151 | 14.4 12.2–17.0ROR 14.4 · calibrated p 0.009 ✓ | 13.5 EB05 11.8 · IC025 +3.4 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=151 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Infusion site infection | 132 | 14.0 11.8–16.7ROR 14.0 · calibrated p 0.010 ✓ | 13.2 EB05 11.4 · IC025 +3.4 3/3 methods agree | Labeled (related wording) related wording | serious n=71 · ♀ 100% (drug 62%) · 100% consumer | no trial arm names this drug |
| Metabolic alkalosis | 92 | 13.9 11.3–17.1ROR 13.9 · calibrated p 0.010 ✓ | 13.0 EB05 10.9 · IC025 +3.3 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=91 · 100% clinician | no trial arm names this drug |
| Nephrogenic anaemia | 262 | 13.5 11.9–15.3ROR 13.5 · calibrated p 0.011 ✓ | 12.7 EB05 11.5 · IC025 +3.4 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=262 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Orthopnoea | 169 | 12.7 10.9–14.8ROR 12.7 · calibrated p 0.014 ✓ | 12.0 EB05 10.5 · IC025 +3.3 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=161 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Hypervolaemia | 245 | 12.2 10.7–13.9ROR 12.2 · calibrated p 0.016 ✓ | 11.6 EB05 10.4 · IC025 +3.3 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=236 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Infusion site haemorrhage | 163 | 12.0 10.3–14.1ROR 12.0 · calibrated p 0.017 ✓ | 11.4 EB05 9.9 · IC025 +3.2 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=63 · 100% consumer | no trial arm names this drug |
| Aortic stenosis | 173 | 11.9 10.2–13.8ROR 11.9 · calibrated p 0.018 ✓ | 11.2 EB05 9.9 · IC025 +3.2 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=172 · ♀ 34% (drug 62%) | no trial arm names this drug |
| Device infusion issue | 121 | 11.8 9.8–14.1ROR 11.8 · calibrated p 0.019 ✓ | 11.1 EB05 9.5 · IC025 +3.1 3/3 methods agree | Reporting / coding artifact | 100% consumer | no trial arm names this drug |
| Colitis microscopic | 212 | 10.7 9.3–12.3ROR 10.8 · calibrated p 0.026 ✓ | 10.2 EB05 9.1 · IC025 +3.1 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=212 · ♀ 100% (drug 62%) | no trial arm names this drug |
| Therapeutic agent toxicity | 149 | 10.5 8.9–12.3ROR 10.5 · calibrated p 0.028 ✓ | 9.9 EB05 8.6 · IC025 +3.0 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=148 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Hypokalaemia (low potassium) | 2,016 | 10.4 10.0–10.9ROR 10.6 · calibrated p 0.026 ✓ | 10.0 EB05 9.6 · IC025 +3.2 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | age-adj. PRR 8.5 · serious PRR 7.7 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Oxygen consumption increased | 103 | 10.3 8.5–12.6ROR 10.4 · calibrated p 0.030 ✓ | 9.7 EB05 8.2 · IC025 +2.9 3/3 methods agree | Lab value / disease marker | serious n=86 · ♀ 100% (drug 62%) | no trial arm names this drug |
| Right ventricular failure | 304 | 10.2 9.1–11.4ROR 10.2 · calibrated p 0.030 ✓ | 9.7 EB05 8.8 · IC025 +3.1 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious PRR 7.5 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Blood chloride decreased | 111 | 10.1 8.4–12.2ROR 10.1 · calibrated p 0.032 ✓ | 9.5 EB05 8.1 · IC025 +2.9 3/3 methods agree | Lab value / disease marker | serious n=107 · 100% clinician | no trial arm names this drug |
| Vascular device infection | 190 | 10.0 8.6–11.5ROR 10.0 · calibrated p 0.033 ✓ | 9.5 EB05 8.4 · IC025 +3.0 3/3 methods agree | Labeled (related wording) related wording | serious n=189 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Ischaemic cardiomyopathy | 129 | 9.9 8.3–11.8ROR 9.9 · calibrated p 0.035 ✓ | 9.3 EB05 8.0 · IC025 +2.9 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=129 · ♀ 0% (drug 62%) | no trial arm names this drug |
| Activated partial thromboplastin time prolonged | 209 | 9.7 8.5–11.2ROR 9.7 · calibrated p 0.036 ✓ | 9.3 EB05 8.2 · IC025 +3.0 3/3 methods agree | Lab value / disease marker | serious n=207 · ♀ 33% (drug 62%) · 100% clinician | no trial arm names this drug |
| Lymphoedema | 283 | 9.7 8.6–10.9ROR 9.7 · calibrated p 0.036 ✓ | 9.3 EB05 8.4 · IC025 +3.0 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=258 · ♀ 83% (drug 62%) | no trial arm names this drug |
| Brain natriuretic peptide increased | 124 | 9.5 7.9–11.4ROR 9.5 · calibrated p 0.040 ✓ | 9.0 EB05 7.7 · IC025 +2.9 3/3 methods agree | Lab value / disease marker | serious n=120 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Infusion site pain | 512 | 9.5 8.7–10.3ROR 9.5 · calibrated p 0.038 ✓ | 9.1 EB05 8.4 · IC025 +3.0 3/3 methods agree | Labeled (related wording) related wording | age-adj. PRR 6.7 · serious n=214 · 87% consumer | no trial arm names this drug |
| Haemorrhagic anaemia | 175 | 9.3 8.0–10.8ROR 9.3 · calibrated p 0.043 ✓ | 8.8 EB05 7.8 · IC025 +2.9 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=175 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Breath sounds abnormal | 190 | 9.1 7.9–10.5ROR 9.1 · calibrated p 0.045 ✓ | 8.7 EB05 7.7 · IC025 +2.9 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | serious n=184 | no trial arm names this drug |
Clinical concept groups
MedDRA splits one clinical problem across several terms (e.g. "neutropenia", "neutrophil count decreased", "agranulocytosis"), which dilutes term-level signals. These rows count reports with any term in a concept group (an exact union, not a sum), compared with all other drugs. Groups are hand-built and listed in the methods.
| Concept | Reports | PRR 95% CI | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heart failure | 3,547 | 4.64.4–4.7 | signal |
| Hyponatraemia | 1,426 | 4.13.9–4.3 | signal |
| Arrhythmia / qt | 3,265 | 3.93.8–4.0 | signal |
| Gi bleeding | 2,872 | 3.63.5–3.8 | signal |
| Anaemia | 4,452 | 3.43.3–3.5 | signal |
| Kidney injury | 6,505 | 3.33.2–3.4 | signal |
| Serious infection | 9,536 | 2.82.8–2.9 | signal |
| Thrombocytopenia | 2,565 | 2.72.6–2.8 | signal |
| Neutropenia / agranulocytosis | 2,867 | 2.72.6–2.8 | signal |
| Venous thromboembolism | 2,197 | 2.32.2–2.4 | signal |
| Fall / fracture | 3,834 | 2.32.2–2.4 | signal |
| Hypoglycaemia | 825 | 2.01.8–2.1 | raised |
| Severe cutaneous reaction | 604 | 1.91.7–2.0 | raised |
| Interstitial lung disease | 778 | 1.91.7–2.0 | raised |
| Myocardial infarction | 1,605 | 1.81.7–1.9 | raised |
| Pancreatitis | 590 | 1.71.5–1.8 | raised |
Trial evidence (ClinicalTrials.gov)
Most frequently reported reactions
By raw co-report count, regardless of disproportionality. Common terms here are often the illness itself or generic outcomes.
| Reaction | Reports | PRR 95% CI · ROR · χ²/p | EBGM EB05 · IC025 | Label screen | Serious-only & strata | Trial cross-check |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diarrhoea (diarrhea) | 6,755 | 2.4 2.4–2.5ROR 2.5 · calibrated p 0.806 | 2.4 EB05 2.3 · IC025 +1.2 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | age-adj. PRR 1.9 · serious PRR 2.3 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Dyspnoea (shortness of breath) | 6,669 | 2.7 2.6–2.8ROR 2.8 · calibrated p 0.681 | 2.7 EB05 2.6 · IC025 +1.4 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | age-adj. PRR 2.2 · serious PRR 2.4 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Nausea | 6,485 | 1.9 1.8–1.9ROR 1.9 · calibrated p 0.914 | 1.9 EB05 1.8 · IC025 +0.9 | Labeled adverse reaction exact term | age-adj. PRR 1.7 · serious PRR 2.0 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Fatigue (tiredness) | 6,276 | 1.8 1.8–1.9ROR 1.9 · calibrated p 0.893 | 1.8 EB05 1.8 · IC025 +0.8 | Not in label — unassessed | age-adj. PRR 1.5 · serious PRR 1.8 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Death | 4,579 | 1.2 1.2–1.2ROR 1.2 · calibrated p 0.456 | 1.2 EB05 1.2 · IC025 +0.2 | Outcome field, not a reaction | age-adj. PRR 1.1 · serious PRR 0.9 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Pneumonia (lung infection) | 4,486 | 3.2 3.1–3.3ROR 3.3 · calibrated p 0.536 | 3.2 EB05 3.1 · IC025 +1.6 3/3 methods agree | Labeled (related wording) related wording | age-adj. PRR 2.6 · serious PRR 2.5 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Headache | 4,146 | 1.5 1.5–1.6ROR 1.5 · calibrated p 0.665 | 1.5 EB05 1.5 · IC025 +0.5 | Labeled adverse reaction exact term | age-adj. PRR 1.4 · serious PRR 1.6 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Vomiting | 4,137 | 2.0 2.0–2.1ROR 2.1 · calibrated p 0.980 | 2.0 EB05 2.0 · IC025 +1.0 | Labeled adverse reaction exact term | age-adj. PRR 1.9 · serious PRR 1.9 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Asthenia (weakness) | 4,137 | 2.5 2.4–2.6ROR 2.6 · calibrated p 0.774 | 2.5 EB05 2.4 · IC025 +1.3 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | age-adj. PRR 1.9 · serious PRR 2.3 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Off label use (used outside approved label) | 4,036 | 1.1 1.0–1.1ROR 1.1 · calibrated p 0.347 | 1.1 EB05 1.0 · IC025 +0.0 | Reporting / coding artifact | age-adj. PRR 1.1 · serious PRR 1.2 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Dizziness | 3,964 | 1.8 1.8–1.9ROR 1.9 · calibrated p 0.863 | 1.8 EB05 1.8 · IC025 +0.8 | Not in label — unassessed | age-adj. PRR 1.5 · serious PRR 1.8 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Pain | 3,851 | 1.4 1.4–1.5ROR 1.4 · calibrated p 0.606 | 1.4 EB05 1.4 · IC025 +0.5 | Labeled adverse reaction exact term | age-adj. PRR 1.6 · serious PRR 1.4 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Fall | 3,611 | 2.5 2.4–2.6ROR 2.6 · calibrated p 0.792 | 2.5 EB05 2.4 · IC025 +1.3 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | age-adj. PRR 1.8 · serious PRR 2.1 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Drug ineffective (drug did not work) | 3,566 | 0.6 0.6–0.6ROR 0.6 · calibrated p 0.085 | 0.6 EB05 0.6 · IC025 -0.8 PRR-only: not supported by EBGM or IC | Reporting / coding artifact | age-adj. PRR 0.7 · serious PRR 0.9 | no trial arm names this drug |
| Anaemia (low red blood cells) | 3,138 | 3.8 3.7–3.9ROR 3.9 · calibrated p 0.399 | 3.7 EB05 3.6 · IC025 +1.8 3/3 methods agree | Not in label — unassessed | age-adj. PRR 3.0 · serious PRR 3.1 | no trial arm names this drug |
Unlabeled candidate signals
These flagged terms were not found in the FDA label text and do not match an artifact pattern. They are the pairs that would merit a structured assessment (temporality, dose-response, biological plausibility, consistency across databases, trial or cohort evidence). The screen has not done that; string-matching misses label wording, and a strong PRR can still be stimulated reporting, co-medication, or the disease itself.
- Vaginal flatulence — n=183, PRR 344.0
- Appendicolith — n=206, PRR 272.7
- Female genital tract fistula — n=199, PRR 29.7
- Radiculopathy — n=241, PRR 22.8
- Hyperphosphataemia — n=171, PRR 19.9
- Infusion site discharge — n=126, PRR 18.0
- Chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorder — n=79, PRR 18.0
- Proctitis — n=198, PRR 17.2
- Chronic sinusitis — n=261, PRR 17.0
- Left atrial dilatation — n=83, PRR 15.7
Want to assess one of these properly? The runbook describes the Bradford Hill / trial-evidence workflow used on the assessment page, and handoff_top1000_signals.csv lists the strongest unassessed pairs across all drugs.
Common questions
What are the most reported side effects of Dextrose?
In FDA FAERS, the most frequently co-reported reaction terms for Dextrose are diarrhoea, dyspnoea, nausea, fatigue, pneumonia, headache. These are report counts, not rates: FAERS has no denominator, reporting is voluntary and uneven, and a term can be reported because of the illness being treated rather than the drug.
Does Dextrose have an FDA boxed warning?
No. The FDA label retrieved for Dextrose has no boxed warning; see the label's Warnings and Precautions for the recognised risks.
Do FAERS signals prove that Dextrose causes these side effects?
No. A disproportionality signal (PRR, ROR) means a reaction is reported more often with this drug than with others in the database. That can reflect a real effect, but also the disease being treated, stimulated reporting after news or litigation, co-medications, or how reports are coded. Causality needs temporality, dose-response, biological plausibility, consistency across data sources and, ideally, trial or cohort evidence. This page screens each term against the FDA label and ClinicalTrials.gov results; it does not establish causation.
Sources & methods
- FDA label via openFDA (set ID 60b6d7c3-0164-46c9-aa38-b5aa1c31a5d5, effective 20260512; matched on
openfda.generic_name.exact:"DEXTROSE" AND openfda.product_type:"HUMAN PRESCRIPTION DRUG") - Bayesian shrinkage measures computed offline over all 1,317,300 cached pairs: BCPNN information component (IC, with Norén closed-form IC025) and MGPS empirical-Bayes geometric mean (EBGM, EB05) with a two-component gamma prior fitted by maximum marginal likelihood (α₁=0.57, β₁=0.02, α₂=1.42, β₂=0.70, w=0.17); unstratified
- FAERS pair statistics from the OpenPV build of 2026-09-14 (openFDA
count=aggregation, fieldpatient.drug.openfda.generic_name.exact, 1,197 reaction terms, min 3 co-reports); PRR/ROR with 95% CI, chi-square with Yates correction - Serious-only and stratified counts (serious:1, patient.patientsex, primarysource.qualification) from openFDA count queries; serious-only PRR uses the drug serious report total and the term global serious total (N_serious=11,882,979); strata shown only when n ≥ 20
- Seriousness and sex counts from openFDA
count=serious,patient.patientsex,seriousnessdeath - ClinicalTrials.gov API v2 (query
DEXTROSE, results-bearing studies sorted by enrollment)
Page generated 2026-10-14. Label and PubChem text are retrieved automatically and may lag the current label; always check the current prescribing information. OpenPV is a beta research tool of the Open Source Medicine Foundation.