Ioversol: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Ioversol is a radiographic contrast agent sold in the U.S. under 5 brand and generic names. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Drug class
- Radiographic Contrast Agent
- Available as
- Injectable
- Sold as
- 5 products — Optiray 160, Optiray 240 and Optiray 300, and others
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
- Boxed warning
- Boxed warning
How ioversol is dosed
From the FDA label for Optiray 160 (application NDA019710). Other ioversol products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
Adjust the volume and concentration of OPTIRAY. Modify the dose accounting for factors such as age, body weight, vessel size, blood flow rate within the vessel. Please see details in full Prescribing Information. ( 2 ) 2.1 Important Administration Instructions OPTIRAY is for intravascular use only [see Boxed Warning, Contraindications ( 4 ), Warnings and Precautions ( 5.1 )] . Use sterile technique for all handling and administration of OPTIRAY. Inspect glass and plastic containers prior to use for breakage or other damage and do not use damaged containers. Warm OPTIRAY and administer at body or room temperature. Inspect OPTIRAY for particulate matter or discoloration before administration. Do not administer if OPTIRAY contains particulate matter or is discolored. Do not mix OPTIRAY with other drugs, solutions or total parenteral nutrition mixtures. Use the lowest dose necessary to obtain adequate visualization. Adjust the volume and concentration of OPTIRAY. Modify the dose accounting for factors such as age, body weight, vessel size, blood flow rate within the vessel, anticipated pathology, degree and extent of opacification required, structure(s) or area to be examined, disease processes affecting the patient, and equipment and technique to be employed. Avoid extravasation when injecting OPTIRAY; especially in patients with severe arterial or venous disease [see Warnings…
Ioversol side effects
The following clinically significant adverse reactions are described elsewhere in the labeling: Risks Associated with Inadvertent Intrathecal Administration [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.1 )] Hypersensitivity Reactions [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.2 )] Contrast Induced Acute Kidney Injury [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.3 )] Cardiovascular Adverse Reactions [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.4 )] Thromboembolic Events [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.5 )] Thyroid Dysfunction in Pediatric Patients 0 to 3 Years of Age [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.8 )] Severe Cutaneous Adverse Reactions [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.11 )] The most common reaction is nausea, occurring at a rate of 1 percent. ( 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact LIEBEL-FLARSHEIM COMPANY LLC at 855-266-5037 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch. 6.1 Clinical Trials Experience Adult Patients 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. The following listing shows adverse reactions based upon clinical trials with OPTIRAY (ioversol) in 4,187 patients. Adverse reactions are listed by organ system according to clinical importance. More severe reactions are…
Who shouldn’t take ioversol
Symptomatic Hyperthyroidism Symptomatic Hyperthyroidism ( 4 )
Ioversol drug interactions
7.1 Drug-Drug Interactions Metformin In patients with renal impairment, metformin can cause lactic acidosis. Iodinated contrast agents appear to increase the risk of metformin induced lactic acidosis, possibly as a result of worsening renal function. Stop metformin at the time of, or prior to, OPTIRAY administration in patients with an eGFR between 30 and 60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 ; in patients with a history of hepatic impairment, alcoholism or heart failure; or in patients who will be administered intra-arterial iodinated contrast agents. Re-evaluate eGFR 48 hours after the imaging procedure, and reinstitute only after renal function is stable. Radioactive Iodine Administration of iodinated contrast agents may interfere with thyroid uptake of radioactive iodine (I 131) and decrease therapeutic efficacy in patients with carcinoma of the thyroid. The decrease in efficacy lasts for 6-8 weeks. Oral Cholecystographic Contrast Agents Renal toxicity has been reported in patients with liver impairment who were given oral cholecystographic agents followed by intravascular contrast agents. Administration of OPTIRAY should be postponed in patients who have recently received a cholecystographic contrast agent. 7.2 Drug/Laboratory Test Interactions Protein-Bound Iodine, Radioactive Iodine Determinations The results of protein bound iodine and radioactive iodine uptake studies, which depend on iodine estimation, will not accurately reflect thyroid function for up to 16 days following administration of iodinated contrast agent. However, thyroid function tests that do not depend on iodine estimations, e.g., T3 resin uptake and total or free thyroxine (T4) assays are not affected.
Every ioversol product we track (5)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
| # | Drug | Rating | Type | Form | Generic? | Pharmacy pays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Injectable | No data | — | View → | |
| 2 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Injectable | No data | — | View → | |
| 3 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Injectable | No data | — | View → | |
| 4 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Injectable | No data | — | View → | |
| 5 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Injectable | No data | — | View → |
How long ioversol keeps
No ioversol label we read sets a separate limit for after opening, but they do specify how it must be stored — and the stability behind any date assumes those conditions.
Does ioversol expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsIoversol and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for ioversol: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadIntravenous iodinated contrast media are poorly excreted into breastmilk and poorly absorbed orally so they are not likely to reach the bloodstream of the infant or cause any adverse effects in breastfed infants. Guidelines developed by several professional organizations state that breastfeeding need not be disrupted after a nursing mother receives an iodine-containing contrast medium. However, because there is no published experience with ioversol during breastfeeding, other agents may be preferred, especially while nursing a newborn or preterm infant.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised November 30, 2022. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about ioversol
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 304 reports naming ioversol, and the FDA flagged 93% 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:
- drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms21 reports
- eosinophilia21 reports
- rash maculo-papular21 reports
- dyspnoea18 reports
- renal failure18 reports
- contrast encephalopathy16 reports
- acute generalised exanthematous pustulosis15 reports
- pruritus15 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean ioversol 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 section above.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved August 26, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
What is ioversol?
Optiray 160 (Ioversol) is a radiographic contrast agent.
What kind of drug is ioversol?
The FDA classifies ioversol as a radiographic contrast agent. Radiographic contrast agents are imaging dyes, not treatments. They contain dense elements like iodine that absorb X-rays strongly, so the blood vessels or organs they fill show up bright and clearly outlined on an X-ray or CT scan. If you are checking whether it is safe to combine with something else, the class is what matters — two drugs from the same class usually should not be stacked.
Can you take ioversol 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 ioversol against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is ioversol sold under?
We track 5 ioversol-containing products in the U.S.: Optiray 160, Optiray 240, Optiray 300, Optiray 320 and Optiray 350. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does ioversol come in?
Across the brands we track, ioversol 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 ioversol?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled ioversol 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). Ioversol: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/ioversol
- MLA
- “Ioversol: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/ioversol.
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 ioversol on DailyMed (NIH) ↗ — including its boxed warning in full.