Dexamethasone Injectable: Dosing and Precautions
Injectable dexamethasone guidance for severe allergic or inflammatory reactions and for foetal lung maturation before 34 weeks.
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Source reviewed
September 2023
Guide category
Injectable drugs
Safety boundary
Prescription medicine information for clinician-guided use.
Kenza Health Hub presents this medicine page as structured health education. Check dose, route, interactions, pregnancy or breast-feeding considerations, and local protocol with a qualified clinician or pharmacist. Read our medical editorial policy.
Therapeutic action
Long-acting steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (corticosteroid).
Indications
- Symptomatic treatment of severe allergic and inflammatory reactions, when oral administration is not possible.
- Foetal lung maturation in the event of threatened premature delivery before 34 weeks of gestation.
Forms and strengths, route of administration
- 4 mg dexamethasone phosphate in 1 ml ampoule for IM or IV injection or infusion.
Dose and duration
Symptomatic treatment of severe allergic and inflammatory reactions
Dosage varies according to indication, reaction severity, and clinical response.
- Child: 0.15 to 0.6 mg/kg, maximum 16 mg, by IM or IV injection once daily.
- Adult: 0.5 to 24 mg by IM or IV injection once daily.
Foetal lung maturation
- Administer to the mother: 6 mg by IM injection every 12 hours for 2 days, total dose 24 mg.
Contra-indications, adverse effects, precautions
Duration varies according to indication. For longer treatments, change to oral route as soon as possible. In the event of treatment longer than 10 days, decrease doses gradually to avoid adrenal suppression.
In case of systemic infections, only administer if the patient is under antimicrobial treatment.
- May cause adrenal suppression, muscle atrophy, growth retardation, increased susceptibility to infections, sodium and water retention, osteoporosis, hypokalaemia, and digitalis toxicity in prolonged high-dose treatment.
- Pregnancy and breast-feeding: no contra-indication; for symptomatic treatment of severe allergic and inflammatory reactions, use the lowest effective dose.
Source
MSF Essential drugs practical guidelines (January 2026)
This page combines source-derived medicine reference sections with Kenza editorial context, while leaving out the Storage and Remarks sections from the source batch.
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