From the Guidelines
High-dose, short-term methylprednisolone pulse therapy typically involves doses of 250-1000 mg/day for 3 days.
Key Points
- The dose of methylprednisolone can vary depending on the severity of the disease and the patient's body weight 1.
- High-dose intravenous methylprednisolone is often used in acute, organ-threatening disease, such as renal or neuropsychiatric conditions, excluding infections 1.
- The use of intravenous pulses of methylprednisolone (total dose 500-2500 mg, depending on disease severity) is recommended to reduce cumulative glucocorticoid dose, followed by oral prednisone 1.
- Pulsed intravenous corticosteroids, usually intravenous methylprednisolone (10-20 mg kg-1 or 250-1000 mg), can be given on up to five consecutive days 1.
- The theoretical aims of 'pulsing' are to achieve more rapid and effective disease control, allowing a reduction in long-term maintenance of corticosteroid doses and corticosteroid side-effects 1.
From the FDA Drug Label
When high dose therapy is desired, the recommended dose of methylprednisolone sodium succinate for injection is 30 mg/kg administered intravenously over at least 30 minutes. This dose may be repeated every 4 to 6 hours for 48 hours.
The pulse dose of methylprednisolone is 30 mg/kg administered intravenously over at least 30 minutes, and may be repeated every 4 to 6 hours for 48 hours 2 2.
From the Research
Pulse Methylprednisolone Dose
- The dose of methylprednisolone for pulse therapy can vary, but common doses include 10 to 20 mg per kilogram of body weight [ 3 ].
- A specific dose of 1 g of methylprednisolone given daily for three days is an accepted practice for treating severe manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or systemic vasculitides [ 4 ].
- Another study used a high-dose pulse steroid regimen consisting of methylprednisolone at 10 mg/kg per day for 4 consecutive days [ 5 ].
- Doses of 250-1000 mg of methylprednisolone are also used for pulse therapy [ 3 ].