• Reference Number: HEY1466A/2024
• Departments: Pharmacy
• Last Updated: 30 June 2024

What are Aminoglycoside Antibiotics?

Aminoglycosides are a group of antibiotics used to treat certain types of serious bacterial infections.  Aminoglycoside antibiotics include gentamicin, tobramycin and amikacin.

Gentamicin is used for serious bacterial infections including those of the urinary tract (e.g. kidneys and bladder), gastrointestinal tract (e.g. in the abdomen), infections of the lungs (e.g. in bronchiectasis) and heart valves (infective endocarditis).

Tobramycin and amikacin are given less often than gentamicin.  They are used in the treatment of lung infections (e.g. tobramycin is used in cystic fibrosis and occasionally bronchiectasis).

How are Aminoglycosides given?

Aminoglycosides are usually given into a vein, either as a slow injection or via a drip (infusion).  The dose and frequency will be calculated based on your age, weight, height and how well your kidneys are working.

Aminoglycosides can be given on their own but are often used together with other antibiotics.  Your clinical team may have decided to give you this antibiotic because it is the most effective antibiotic for your infection or because there is a reason you cannot have other antibiotics.

Why have I been given this leaflet?

Like all medicines, aminoglycosides (gentamicin/ tobramycin/ amikacin) can occasionally cause side effects.

Aminoglycosides can, very rarely, cause damage to your ears which can lead to hearing and balance problems.  This can make you feel dizzy or cause you to lose your balance.  Sometimes you can get a ringing in your ears or hearing loss. This is more likely to happen if you receive aminoglycosides for more than five days.  In some patients these side effects cannot be reversed once they happen.

Aminoglycosides can also occasionally damage the kidneys or cause an allergic reaction.

Your clinical team will do blood tests regularly while you are on this antibiotic.  These tests are to check your kidney function and to see the amount of drug in your blood to make sure you are on the right dose.

Is there anything I can do?

The risk of these side effects is different for each patient.  It is important that you tell your clinical team (doctor/nurse/pharmacist) if you have any balance or hearing problems.  You should also tell them if you have any kidney problems and if you are taking any other medicines, including over the counter medicines (bought in a pharmacy) or herbal/alternative remedies.  Aminoglycosides don’t mix well with some other medicines.

A careful assessment should then be done to work out the most appropriate treatment plan.  This may require additional testing of your hearing and balance or changing the antibiotic(s).

Please let the clinical team know if you experience any of the following:

• Changes in your hearing (especially not hearing high pitched sounds).
• Ringing in your ears.
• Changes to balance or co-ordination.
• Feeling dizzy or that your head is ‘spinning’.
• Changes in vision (e.g. blurred vision, inability to focus,  flickering eye movements,  objects moving back/forth or up/down).

Any signs of an allergic reaction, including rash, itch, swelling or redness of the skin, fever, shortness of breath, a tight chest or wheezing.

Who can I speak to if I have any questions?

The doctors, nurses or pharmacists looking after your care will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Contact numbers

Hull Royal Infirmary, Department of Pharmacy, tel: 01482311665

Castle Hill Hospital, Department of Pharmacy, tel: 01482463278

General Advice and Consent

Most of your questions should have been answered by this leaflet, but remember that this is only a starting point for discussion with the healthcare team.

Consent to treatment

Before any doctor, nurse or therapist examines or treats you, they must seek your consent or permission. In order to make a decision, you need to have information from health professionals about the treatment or investigation which is being offered to you. You should always ask them more questions if you do not understand or if you want more information.

The information you receive should be about your condition, the alternatives available to you, and whether it carries risks as well as the benefits. What is important is that your consent is genuine or valid. That means:

• you must be able to give your consent
• you must be given enough information to enable you to make a decision
• you must be acting under your own free will and not under the strong influence of another person

Information about you

We collect and use your information to provide you with care and treatment. As part of your care, information about you will be shared between members of a healthcare team, some of whom you may not meet. Your information may also be used to help train staff, to check the quality of our care, to manage and plan the health service, and to help with research. Wherever possible we use anonymous data.

We may pass on relevant information to other health organisations that provide you with care. All information is treated as strictly confidential and is not given to anyone who does not need it. If you have any concerns please ask your doctor, or the person caring for you.

Under the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018 we are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any information we hold about you. For further information visit the following page: Confidential Information about You.

If you or your carer needs information about your health and wellbeing and about your care and treatment in a different format, such as large print, braille or audio, due to disability, impairment or sensory loss, please advise a member of staff and this can be arranged.