Ulsanic Tablet 500mg and 1g, Suspension 1g/5ml (Sucralfate)

• Ulsanic 500 mg is DRAP reg. 005485 (DRAP registry entry); the 1 g tablet is DRAP reg. 008246 and the suspension DRAP reg. 010927.
• Made in Lahore by Highnoon Laboratories, which the leaflet says is under licence from Chugai Pharmaceutical of Japan.
• Prescription: the leaflet says “To be sold and used on the prescription of a registered medical practitioner only.”, and its Urdu says the same: “صرف مستند ڈاکٹر کے نسخہ کے مطابق ہی دوا فروخت اور استعمال کی جائے۔”
• Only by mouth, never by injection: the leaflet says fatal complications, including blockages of blood vessels in the lungs and brain (emboli), have occurred when sucralfate was given intravenously.
• Kidney failure or dialysis: sucralfate contains aluminium, which builds up when the kidneys can’t clear it. See the cautions below before you order.
• DRAP notifies no price for Ulsanic: every pack is de-controlled, and the price index has no entry.

DRAP also lists a second Ulsanic Suspension at 500 mg in 5 ml (DRAP reg. 032072, registry entry). Highnoon doesn’t list it, and we sell the 1 g in 5 ml suspension only.

• For ulcers and chronic gastritis in adults, the leaflet gives it either twice a day, on rising and at bedtime, or four times a day, 1 hour before meals and at bedtime, for 4 to 6 weeks, or up to 12 weeks in resistant cases.
• The leaflet says healing may happen in the first week or two, but treatment should continue for 4 to 8 weeks unless an x-ray or endoscopy has shown the ulcer has healed.
• Antacids: the leaflet says they may be used for pain, but not within half an hour before or after Ulsanic.
• Suspension: the UK label for sucralfate suspension says to shake it before use.
• Children: the leaflet gives doses for children but also says safety and effectiveness in children have not been established, and the UK label does not recommend it under 14. Only give it to a child on a doctor’s advice.

• Must not take it: anyone allergic to sucralfate or any ingredient.
• Chronic kidney failure or dialysis: the leaflet says to use it with caution, because aluminium can build up and cause bone and brain problems. The UK product information for sucralfate 1 g tablets (Penlan) is stricter: not recommended on dialysis, and in severe kidney disease only short term, with extreme caution.
• Diabetes: the leaflet says episodes of high blood sugar have been reported in diabetic patients, recommends close monitoring, and says diabetes treatment may need adjusting.
• Other aluminium-containing medicines, such as some antacids: the leaflet says they add to the body’s aluminium load.
• Trouble swallowing: the UK tablet label says the tablets may be inhaled into the airway by people with swallowing difficulty.
• Seriously ill patients and tube feeding: the UK label says bezoars (solid masses in the stomach) have been reported, mainly in intensive care patients with slow stomach emptying or on tube feeds.