Your child will need to stay overnight (23-hour stay) for the first infusion of zolendronic acid. After that, your child will have outpatient treatments every 6 months.
To get ready for each treatment your child will take certain medicines for 7 days before.
Vitamin D ___________units daily.
Calcium supplement _________mg, three times daily.
The Day of the Infusion
Your child will have an IV placed and will have labs drawn.
We will give your child Tylenol® and/or ibuprofen before the treatment, every 6 hours in the hospital and the first day at home.
The infusion is given through the IV over about 1 hour.
During the first treatment your child will likely have flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, muscle aches, body aches, joint or bone pain, or headaches. These symptoms may last 1-2 days. You child will not likely have these symptoms for future treatments.
Between Infusions
Your child will need labs drawn at your local clinic every 3 months. Your doctor will order a bone density scan to watch the effects of the medicine and to see if your child has bone pain or a broken bone.
Future Visits
Your child will have treatments every 6 months. A nephrology provider will see your child during follow-up treatments. Each year, your child will also have a follow-up visit in the pediatric bone clinic.