ANKLE EDEMA FORMATION DURING TREATMENT WITH THE AMLODIPINE IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF NEPAL

Hypertension is one of the major public health challenges worldwide. Amlodipine, a calcium channel blockers (CCBs), is among the first line antihypertensive drugs used commonly. Amlodipine reduces blood pressure by its vasodilatory action and its adverse drug reactions (ADRs) such as ankle edema, headache and flushing are related with its vasodilatory action. This study is conducted to find the incidence of ankle edema in patients of mild to moderate hypertension treated with Amlodipine 10 mg. A total of 64 informed consented patients, fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria were involved in the study. Follow-up visits were performed after four weeks and eight weeks. At each visit, complete clinical examination was carried out, including a recording of systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP). Safety was assessed in terms of both subjective and objective systemic adverse-effects. In the present study, significant reduction of mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) and mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was seen. Commonly seen adverse drug reactions (ADRs) were ankle edema, constipation, headache and fatigue. The association of ankle edema due to amlodipine has alerted us to begin generating safety data of drugs on our own population.