Adverse reactions of sodium-glucose cotransporter type 2 inhibitors in people suffering from diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Introduction: The benefits offered by the use of sodium-glucose cotransporter type 2 inhibitors in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, worrisome adverse events and reactions are reported for the use of this group of drugs. Hence, the need for physicians to be aware of them.

Objective: To describe the most frequent adverse drug reactions of sodium-glucose cotransporter type 2 inhibitors in people with diabetes mellitus and those of greatest clinical interest due to their severity.

Methods: The information was obtained in the October-December 2020 quarter. Different review articles, research articles and Web pages were evaluated, generally less than 10 years old, in Spanish, Portuguese or English. Google Scholar, Pubmed and SciElo were used as search engines for scientific information. The following keywords were used: sodium-glucose cotransporter type 2 inhibitors; treatment; adverse reactions; and diabetes mellitus. Articles that did not meet the indicated conditions were excluded. This allowed the study of 88 articles, of which 50 were referenced.

Conclusions: Type 2 sodium-glucose cotransporter inhibitors can produce various adverse reactions -described in the text-, which can potentially increase morbidity and mortality. Their use offers the possibility of serious adverse reactions of clinical interest, among which the following are described: euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis, acute renal failure, risk of foot amputations and necrotizing fasciitis of the perineum.