Gadodiamide: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Gadodiamide is a medicine sold in the U.S. under one brand. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Available as
- Injectable
- Sold as
- Omniscan
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
- Boxed warning
- Boxed warning
How gadodiamide is dosed
From the FDA label for Omniscan (application NDA022066). Other gadodiamide products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
CNS – Adults and Pediatrics; 2 to 16 years of age: 0.2 mL/kg (0.1 mmol/kg) ( 2.1 , 2.4 ) Body – Adults and Pediatrics; 2 to 16 years of age: Kidney: 0.1 mL/kg (0.05 mmol/kg) Intrathoracic, intra-abdominal, and pelvic cavities: 0.2 mL/kg (0.1 mmol/kg) ( 2.2 , 2.4 ) 2.1 CNS (Central Nervous System) Adults: The recommended dose of OMNISCAN is 0.2 mL/kg (0.1 mmol/kg) administered as a bolus intravenous injection. Pediatric Patients (2 to 16 years of age): The recommended dose of OMNISCAN is 0.2 mL/kg (0.1 mmol/kg) administered as a bolus intravenous injection [see Dosage and Administration (2.3) ]. 2.2 Body (Intrathoracic [noncardiac], Intra-abdominal, Pelvic and Retroperitoneal Regions) Adult and Pediatric Patients (2 to 16 years of age): For imaging the kidney, the recommended dose of OMNISCAN is 0.1 mL/kg (0.05 mmol/kg). For imaging the intrathoracic (noncardiac), intra-abdominal, and pelvic cavities, the recommended dose of OMNISCAN is 0.2 mL/kg (0.1 mmol/kg) [see Dosage and Administration (2.3) ]. 2.3 Dosage Chart BODY WEIGHT PEDIATRIC ADULTS 0.05 0.1 0.05 0.1 kg lb (mmol/kg) (mmol/kg) VOLUME (mL) VOLUME (mL) 12 26 1.2 2.4 - - 14 31 1.4 2.8 - - 16 35 1.6 3.2 - - 18 40 1.8 3.6 - - 20 44 2 4 - - 22 48 2.2 4.4 - - 24 53 2.4 4.8 - - 26 57 2.6 5.2 - - 28 62 2.8 5.6 - - 30 66 3 6 - - 40 88 4 8 4 8 50 110 5 10 5 10 60 132 6 12 6 12 70 154 7 14 7 14 80 176 8 16 8 16 90 198 - - 9 18…
Gadodiamide side effects
The following clinically significant adverse reactions are discussed in greater detail in other sections of the label: Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2) ] Hypersensitivity reactions [see Warnings and Precautions (5.3) ] Acute Renal Failure [see Warnings and Precautions (5.5) ] The most frequent adverse reactions (≤ 3%) observed during OMNISCAN adult clinical studies were nausea, headache, and dizziness ( 6.1 ) Serious or life-threatening reactions include: cardiac failure, arrhythmia and myocardial infarction ( 6.1 , 6.2 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact GE HealthCare at 1-800-654-0118 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch. 6.1 Clinical Studies 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 rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice. Adverse Reactions in Adult Patients In clinical studies 1,160 patients were exposed to OMNISCAN. The most frequent adverse reactions were nausea, headache, and dizziness that occurred in 3% or less of the patients. The majority of these reactions were of mild to moderate intensity. The following adverse reactions occurred in 1% or less of patients: Application Site Disorders: Injection site reaction. Autonomic…
Who shouldn’t take gadodiamide
OMNISCAN is contraindicated in patients with: Chronic, severe kidney disease (glomerular filtration rate, GFR < 30 mL/min/1.73m 2 ) or acute kidney injury Prior hypersensitivity to OMNISCAN Patients with chronic, severe kidney disease (GFR < 30 mL/min/1.73m 2 ) or acute kidney injury ( 4 ).
Gadodiamide drug interactions
Specific drug interaction studies have not been conducted.
Every gadodiamide product we track (1)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
Only one: Omniscan.
Gadodiamide and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for gadodiamide: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadGadodiamide releases more free gadolinium than some other gadolinium-containing contrast agents and has been removed from the market in several countries. Some European guidelines recommend a 24-hour interruption of breastfeeding after a dose, but guidelines developed by several North American professional organizations state that breastfeeding need not be disrupted after a nursing mother receives a gadolinium-containing contrast medium. Other agents are preferred, especially while nursing a newborn or preterm infant.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised December 15, 2025. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about gadodiamide
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 63 reports naming gadodiamide, and the FDA flagged 92% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- nephrogenic systemic fibrosis22 reports
- vomiting9 reports
- skin hypertrophy6 reports
- abdominal pain5 reports
- emotional distress5 reports
- nuclear magnetic resonance imaging brain abnormal5 reports
- pruritus5 reports
- confusional state4 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean gadodiamide caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved September 25, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
What is gadodiamide?
OMNISCAN (gadodiamide) Injection is the formulation of the gadolinium complex of diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid bismethylamide, and is an injectable, nonionic extracellular enhancing agent for magnetic resonance imaging. OMNISCAN is administered by intravenous injection. OMNISCAN is provided as a sterile, clear, colorless to slightly yellow, aqueous solution. Each 1 mL contains 287 mg gadodiamide and 12 mg caldiamide sodium in Water for Injection. The pH is adjusted between 5.5 and 7.0 with hydrochloric acid and/or sodium hydroxide. OMNISCAN contains no antimicrobial preservative.
Can you take gadodiamide with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run gadodiamide against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What forms does gadodiamide come in?
Across the brands we track, gadodiamide is currently marketed as injectable, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic gadodiamide?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled gadodiamide product. That does not always mean none exists — it means none appears under a generic name in the FDA data we track. Ask your pharmacist.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Gadodiamide: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/gadodiamide
- MLA
- “Gadodiamide: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/gadodiamide.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for gadodiamide on DailyMed (NIH) ↗ — including its boxed warning in full.