Dr. med. Dirk Manski

 You are here: Urology Textbook > Drugs in Urology > Alpha blocker > Doxazosin

Doxazosin: Side Effects and Dosage

Mechanism of Action

Doxazosin is a nonselective α1-blocker with long elimination half-life. Please see section general pharmacology of alpha blocker. Review Literatur: (Chapple, 2004).

figure structural formula of doxazosin
Structural formula of doxazosin

Indications for Doxazosin

Pharmacokinetics of Doxazosin

Elimination half-life 22 h

Side Effects of Doxazosin

Increased side effect profile since doxazosin is a nonselective α1 blocker.

Contraindications of Doxazosin

Urological Contraindications:

Conservative treatment of BPH is not indicated, if surgical treatment is imperative: chronic urinary retention with renal failure, recurrent hematuria due to prostatic enlargement, recurrent infections and bladder stones.

Cardiac Contraindications:

Hypotension, mechanical heart failure (valvular, pulmonary embolism, pericarditis), congestive heart failure.

Other contraindications:

Doxazosin should be paused for cataract surgery to prevent an intraoperative floppy iris syndrome.

Dosage of Doxazosin

The treatment of doxazosin should be started with a low dosage, such as 1 mg orally once daily. The dosage can be increased each week to 2–4–8 mg orally once daily, depending on treatment effect, side effects and blood pressure. Doxazosin should be given before bedtime in the evening to reduce side effects.





Index: 1–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

References

Chapple 2004 CHAPPLE, C. R.: Pharmacological therapy of benign prostatic hyperplasia/lower urinary tract symptoms: an overview for the practising clinician.
In: BJU Int
94 (2004), Nr. 5, S. 738–44

J. D. McConnell et al., “The long-term effect of doxazosin, finasteride, and combination therapy on the clinical progression of benign prostatic hyperplasia,” N Engl J Med, vol. 349, no. 25, pp. 2387–98, 2003.



  Deutsche Version: Doxazosin