Is Ethiodized Oil safe while breastfeeding?
Here is what LactMed, the Drugs and Lactation Database published by the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), reports about Ethiodized Oil. The text below is quoted from that source — it is not our own verdict.
Summary of use during breastfeeding
Ethiodized oil use causes large increases milk iodine concentrations, which may interfere with the thyroid function of the breastfed infant. interfere with the thyroid function of the breastfed infant. Breastfeeding should be suspended until concentrations normalize. The time for milk iodine levels to normalize is unknown, but may be 2 weeks or longer, depending on the dose. Consider thyroid function testing in a breastfed infant whose mother was exposed to ethiodized oil.
Effects on the breastfed infant
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Effects on milk supply
Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
Levels in milk
Maternal Levels. A nursing mother with metastatic thyroid cancer developed a chyle leak on postoperative day 1 after a modified radical neck dissection. After unsuccessful conservative management of the chyle leak, the interventional radiology service performed a lymphangiography and sclerotherapy under general anesthesia on postoperative day 2. The patient received 30 mL of iohexol for imaging, and 20 mL of ethiodized oil for imaging and sclerotherapy. The iodine concentrations in frozen pumped milk collected on post-procedure days 8 to 11 yielded iodine ranging from 9.6 to 21.2 ppm, 50 to 100 times the typical human milk concentration, without a consistent decline over time.[1]
Infant Levels. Relevant published information was not found as of the revision date.
“No published information” means the studies do not exist yet — not that Ethiodized Oil is known to be harmful, and not that it is known to be safe. Your prescriber or pharmacist can weigh your baby's age and whether a better-studied alternative would do the same job. Worth asking before stopping a medicine you need.
Source: Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), via NCBI Bookshelf, record “Ethiodized Oil” (ethiodized_oil). LactMed on NCBI Bookshelf. LactMed is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Educational summary of an authoritative source — not medical advice. Never start, stop, or change a medicine while breastfeeding without confirming with your doctor.