Ammonia scavenger
Sodium benzoate
Adult dose
Dose: Urea cycle disorders: 250–500 mg/kg/day in divided doses (specialist metabolic)
Route: PO/IV
Frequency: divided
Clinical pearls
- Acute hyperammonaemia from urea cycle disorders — specialist metabolic
- Often combined with sodium phenylacetate (Ammonul)
Contraindications
- Hypersensitivity
Side effects
- GI upset
- Metabolic acidosis
- Hypernatraemia
Interactions
- Penicillins
- Probenecid
Monitoring
- Ammonia
- Electrolytes
- ABG
Reference: BNF; SmPC; https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drugs/sodium-benzoate/. Verify against your local formulary and the latest BNF before prescribing.
Related
Curated clinical cross-links plus same-class fallbacks.
Calculators
Pathways
- Sepsis Screening and Sepsis Six · UK Sepsis Trust; NICE NG51; Surviving Sepsis Campaign 2021
- Unintentional Weight Loss Workup · NICE NG12; BSG
- Chronic Fatigue Workup · NICE NG206; BMJ Best Practice
- Lymphadenopathy Workup · NICE NG12; BMJ Best Practice
- Pre-op Medical Clearance · NICE NG45; ESC 2022
- Secondary Hypertension Workup · NICE NG136; ESH 2023