Solifenacin

Solifenacin, sold as the brand name Vesicare among others, is a medicine used to treat overactive bladder. It may help with incontinence, urinary frequency, and urinary urgency. Benefits appear similar to other medications in the class. It is taken by mouth. Solifenacin, sold as the brand name Vesicare among others, is a medicine used to treat overactive bladder. It may help with incontinence, urinary frequency, and urinary urgency. Benefits appear similar to other medications in the class. It is taken by mouth. Common side effects include dry mouth and constipation. Severe side effects may include urinary retention, QT prolongation, hallucinations, and glaucoma. It is unclear if use is safe during pregnancy. It is of the antimuscarinic class and works by decreasing bladder contractions. Solifenacin was approved for medical use in the United States in 2004. A month supply in the United Kingdom costs the NHS about 27.62 £ as of 2019. In the United States the wholesale cost of this amount is about 370 USD. In 2016 it was the 170th most prescribed medication in the United States with more than 3 million prescriptions. It is used to treat overactive bladder. It may help with incontinence, urinary frequency, and urinary urgency. Benefits appear similar to other antimuscarinics such as oxybutynin, tolterodine, and darifenacin. Solifenacin is contraindicated for people with urinary retention, gastric retention, uncontrolled or poorly controlled closed-angle glaucoma, severe liver disease (Child-Pugh class C), and hemodialysis. Long QT syndrome is not a contraindication although solifenacin, like tolterodine and darifenacin, binds to hERG channels of the heart and may prolong the QT interval. This mechanism appears to be seldom clinically relevant. The most common side effects of solifenacin are dry mouth, blurred vision, and constipation. As all anticholinergics, solifenacin may rarely cause hyperthermia due to decreased perspiration. Solifenacin is metabolized in the liver by the cytochrome P450 enzyme CYP3A4. When administered concomitantly with drugs that inhibit CYP3A4, such as ketoconazole, the metabolism of solifenacin is impaired, leading to an increase in its concentration in the body and a reduction in its excretion.