Severe hypoglycemia in children treated with nadolol: A case report and FDA adverse event reporting system (FAERS) database analysis

Objective: We describe a case of severe hypoglycemia in a 14-month-old child as a suspected adverse drug reaction (ADR) to nadolol, and we performed an analysis of the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database. Although previous reports have identified the risk of severe hypoglycemia in children during treatment with beta-blockers, little is known about hypoglycemia as an ADR in infants treated with nadolol. Moreover, the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic profiles of nadolol in children aged less than 1 year old are still not fully known. Materials and methods: We extracted all ADR reports involving nadolol from the FAERS database; in order to reduce the risk of bias, we only considered cases that exclusively reported nadolol as the suspect drug. We then selected cases of hypoglycemia in the pediatric population and conducted a manual deduplication. Results: Upon FAERS database analysis, a total of 2,674 suspected ADR reports to nadolol were found. Of these, 1,950 (73%) were solely attributed to nadolol, and 63 of them were hypoglycemic events. A total of 47 reports included the relevant pediatric age (74.6%). After deduplication, we identified 25 cases (mean age: 3.65 years old); all of these reports were categorized as serious, and hospitalization was required in 15 cases. Conclusion: Hypoglycemia is a reported life-threatening ADR associated with nadolol, especially in infants, in whom this drug should be used with caution.