Creon

• Overview
• Consumer Information
• Professional Information

 

Creon Side Effects Center

What Is Creon?

Creon (pancrelipase) is a combination of three enzymes: lipase, protease, and amylase, which are normally produced by the pancreas and are important in the digestion of fats, proteins, and sugars, used to replace these enzymes in conditions in which the pancreas is damaged, including cystic fibrosis, chronic inflammation of the pancreas, or blockage of the pancreatic ducts.

What Are Side Effects of Creon?

Side effects of Creon include:

• nausea,
• vomiting,
• diarrhea,
• greasy stools,
• gas,
• bloating,
• constipation,
• stomach pain or upset,
• rectal irritation,
• headache,
• dizziness,
• cough, or
• weight loss.

Tell your doctor if you have rare but very serious side effects of Creon including:

• severe constipation,
• severe stomach or abdominal discomfort,
• frequent or painful urination, or
• joint pain.

Dosage for Creon

Creon is taken orally in capsule form, and dose is based on the patient's age and body weight.

What Drugs, Substances, or Supplements Interact with Creon?

Creon may interact with other drugs. Tell your doctor all medications and supplements you use.

Creon During Pregnancy and Breastfeeding

It is also not known whether pancrelipase can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman, so this drug should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed. It is also not known if Creon is excreted in breast milk. Consult your doctor before breastfeeding.

Additional Information

Our Creon Side Effects Drug Center provides a comprehensive view of available drug information on the potential side effects when taking this medication.

 

Creon Consumer Information

Get emergency medical help if you have signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.

Call your doctor at once if you have:

• joint pain or swelling; or
• symptoms of a rare but serious bowel disorder--severe or unusual stomach pain, vomiting, bloating, diarrhea, constipation.

Tell your doctor if your child is not growing at a normal rate while using pancrelipase.

Common side effects may include:

• stomach pain, gas, upset stomach;
• diarrhea, frequent or abnormal bowel movements;
• rectal itching;
• headache;
• runny or stuffy nose, sore throat; or
• changes in your blood sugar.

This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

Read the entire detailed patient monograph for Creon (Pancrelipase Capsules)

 

Creon Professional Information

SIDE EFFECTS

The most serious adverse reactions reported with different pancreatic enzyme products of the same active ingredient (pancrelipase) that are described elsewhere in the label include fibrosing colonopathy, hyperuricemia and allergic reactions [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS].

Clinical Trials Experience

Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to the rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice.

The short-term safety of CREON was assessed in clinical trials conducted in 121 patients with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI): 67 patients with EPI due to cystic fibrosis (CF) and 25 patients with EPI due to chronic pancreatitis or pancreatectomy were treated with CREON.

Cystic Fibrosis

Studies 1 and 2 were randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover studies of 49 patients, ages 7 to 43 years, with EPI due to CF. Study 1 included 32 patients ages 12 to 43 years and Study 2 included 17 patients ages 7 to 11 years. In these studies, patients were randomized to receive CREON at a dose of 4,000 lipase units/g fat ingested per day or matching placebo for 5 to 6 days of treatment, followed by crossover to the alternate treatment for an additional 5 to 6 days. The mean exposure to CREON during these studies was 5 days.

In Study 1, one patient experienced duodenitis and gastritis of moderate severity 16 days after completing treatment with CREON. Transient neutropenia without clinical sequelae was observed as an abnormal laboratory finding in one patient receiving CREON and a macrolide antibiotic.

In Study 2, adverse reactions that occurred in at least 2 patients (greater than or equal to 12%) treated with CREON were vomiting and headache. Vomiting occurred in 2 patients treated with CREON and did not occur in patients treated with placebo; headache occurred in 2 patients treated with CREON and did not occur in patients treated with placebo.

The most common adverse reactions (greater than or equal to 4%) in Studies 1 and 2 were vomiting, dizziness, and cough. Table 1 enumerates adverse reactions that occurred in at least 2 patients (greater than or equal to 4%) treated with CREON at a higher rate than with placebo in Studies 1 and 2.

Table 1: Adverse Reactions Occurring in at Least 2 Patients (greater than or equal to 4%) in Cystic Fibrosis (Studies 1 and 2)

Adverse Reaction	CREON Capsules n = 49 (%)	Placebo n = 47 (%)
Vomiting	3 (6)	1 (2)
Dizziness	2 (4)	1 (2)
Cough	2 (4)	0

An additional open-label, single-arm study assessed the short-term safety and tolerability of CREON in 18 infants and children, ages 4 months to 6 years, with EPI due to cystic fibrosis. Patients received their usual pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (mean dose of 7,000 lipase units/kg/day for a mean duration of 18.2 days) followed by CREON (mean dose of 7,500 lipase units/kg/day for a mean duration of 12.6 days). There were no serious adverse reactions. Adverse reactions that occurred in patients during treatment with CREON were vomiting, irritability, and decreased appetite, each occurring in 6% of patients.

Chronic Pancreatitis Or Pancreatectomy

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group study was conducted in 54 adult patients, ages 32 to 75 years, with EPI due to chronic pancreatitis or pancreatectomy. Patients received single-blind placebo treatment during a 5-day run-in period followed by an intervening period of up to 16 days of investigator-directed treatment with no restrictions on pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy. Patients were then randomized to receive CREON or matching placebo for 7 days. The CREON dose was 72,000 lipase units per main meal (3 main meals) and 36,000 lipase units per snack (2 snacks). The mean exposure to CREON during this study was 6.8 days in the 25 patients that received CREON.

The most common adverse reactions reported during the study were related to glycemic control and were reported more commonly during CREON treatment than during placebo treatment.

Table 2 enumerates adverse reactions that occurred in at least 1 patient (greater than or equal to 4%) treated with CREON at a higher rate than with placebo.

Table 2: Adverse Reactions in at Least 1 Patient (greater than or equal to 4%) in the Chronic Pancreatitis or Pancreatectomy Trial

Adverse Reaction	CREON Capsules n = 25 (%)	Placebo n = 29 (%)
Hyperglycemia	2 (8)	2 (7)
Hypoglycemia	1 (4)	1 (3)
Abdominal Pain	1 (4)	1 (3)
Abnormal Feces	1 (4)	0
Flatulence	1 (4)	0
Frequent Bowel Movements	1 (4)	0
Nasopharyngitis	1 (4)	0

Postmarketing Experience

Postmarketing data from this formulation of CREON have been available since 2009. The following adverse reactions have been identified during post approval use of this formulation of CREON. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure.

Gastrointestinal disorders (including abdominal pain, diarrhea, flatulence, constipation and nausea), skin disorders (including pruritus, urticaria and rash), blurred vision, myalgia, muscle spasm, and asymptomatic elevations of liver enzymes have been reported with this formulation of CREON.

Delayed- and immediate-release pancreatic enzyme products with different formulations of the same active ingredient (pancrelipase) have been used for the treatment of patients with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency due to cystic fibrosis and other conditions, such as chronic pancreatitis. The long-term safety profile of these products has been described in the medical literature. The most serious adverse reactions included fibrosing colonopathy, distal intestinal obstruction syndrome (DIOS), recurrence of pre-existing carcinoma, and severe allergic reactions including anaphylaxis, asthma, hives, and pruritus.

Read the entire FDA prescribing information for Creon (Pancrelipase Capsules)

&Copy; Creon Patient Information is supplied by Cerner Multum, Inc. and Creon Consumer information is supplied by First Databank, Inc., used under license and subject to their respective copyrights.