Evaluation of Information about the Coloration of Urine and Feces Caused by Drugs

• Published in: Iryo Yakugaku (Japanese Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Care and Sciences) Vol. 28; no. 3; pp. 244 - 250
• Main Authors: Nakamura, Hitoshi, Nakagawa, Naoto, Inooka, Kyoko, Mizugaki, Michinao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: Japanese Society of Pharmaceutical Health Care and Sciences 2002
• Subjects: coloration; drug information; evaluation; feces; urine
• ISSN: 1346-342X; 1882-1499
• DOI: 10.5649/jjphcs.28.244

There are numerous drugs which may cause a discoloration of the urine, feces or body secretions, and therefore pharmacists have a responsibility to inform patients about such discoloration to reduce their anxiety. The purpose of this article is to list and evaluate the available information on coloration of urine and feces caused by drugs that are on sale in Japan. Based on various databases and reports, we listed 95 drugs. Coloration caused by drugs or their metabolites were observed in 45 cases, and 37 of these drugs had insert leaflets in their packages. Thirty-two of the remaining 50 drugs caused coloration as a side effect. When pharmacists inform patients of potential coloration of the urine and feces, the unclear incidence rate remains a problem. We pointed out 3 doubtful cases of red urine due to Phenytoin, green urine due to Indometacin, and blue-green urine due to Amitriptyline in our findings. Using findings of various reports is also problematical because many findings are unclear or use different criteria. It is therefore necessary to collect more clinical data for the systematic evaluation of drugs which induce coloration of urine or feces.