Hetastarch 6% infusion 500ml bags
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
Hydroxyethyl starch (HES/HAES) is a nonionic starch derivative.
Official documents, adverse reaction reporting, and safety monitoring
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Safety monitoring data
Yellow Card reports
The MHRA Yellow Card scheme collects reports of suspected side effects from healthcare professionals and patients. View the Drug Analysis Profile (iDAP) for real-world adverse reaction data.
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Report a side effect
Submit a Yellow Card report to the MHRA
Data from the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. A reported reaction does not necessarily mean the medicine caused it. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
EudraVigilance
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) collects suspected adverse reaction reports from across the EU/EEA through the EudraVigilance system. Search for safety data on this medicine.
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Browse substances A–Z in the European adverse reaction database
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EudraVigilance data is published by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). A suspected adverse reaction is not necessarily caused by the medicine.
2 branded products available
MHRA licensed products
View all licensed products for Hetastarch on the MHRA register
Venofundin 6% solution for injection 500ml bags
Check stock at pharmacies and supply information
Pharmacy stock checkers
Search for this medicine at major UK pharmacy chains. These links open the retailer's own website — results depend on their current online catalogue.
Supply & safety information
Official UK regulator monitoring and safety alerts
Pharmacy links redirect to the retailer's own search and do not represent real-time stock levels. Shortage and safety information sourced from MHRA drug safety updates (gov.uk, Crown Copyright under OGL v3.0).
Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. BNF code shown is the factual mapping value distributed by NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) in the dm+d supplementary file under OGL v3.0; it is not affiliated with, nor licensed from, the publishers of the British National Formulary.
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Academic studies and reviews for this medicine's active substance
Showing the 50 most relevant studies.
Reviews & meta-analyses: 6 · Randomised trials: 4 · 1982–2025
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
R. Strauss, B. Pennell, D. Stump
Transfusion, 2002
- Blood Coagulation Factors
- Blood Coagulation Tests
- Blood Proteins
Nicholas J. Wilkes, Rex L. Woolf, Marjorie Mutch, et al.
Anesthesia & Analgesia, 2001
- Acid-Base Equilibrium
- Gastric Mucosa
- Hydroxyethyl Starch Derivatives
E. Rackow, J. Falk, I. A. Fein, et al.
Critical care medicine, 1983
- Fluid Therapy
- Albumins
- Hemodynamics
Markus Rehm, Mathias Haller, V. Orth, et al.
Anesthesiology, 2001
- Hematocrit
- Hysterectomy
- Albumins
Douglas K. Rex, Heather M. Broadley, Jonathan R. Garcia, et al.
Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, 2019
- Endoscopic Mucosal Resection
- Adenoma
- Colonic Neoplasms
E. Riley, Sheila E. Cohen, Adam J. Rubenstein, et al.
Anesthesia & Analgesia, 1995
- Cesarean Section
- Ringer's Lactate
- Anesthesia, Obstetrical
Marketa Hecht-Dolnik, Howard Barkan, Ananse Taharka, et al.
Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, 2009
- Analysis of Variance
- Coronary Artery Bypass
- Blood Transfusion
Ronald G. Strauss, C. Stansfield, R.A. Henriksen, et al.
Transfusion, 1988
- Blood Coagulation
- Blood Specimen Collection
- Factor VIII
Marilyn T. Haupt, Eric C. Rackow
Critical Care Medicine, 1982
- Fluid Therapy
- Resuscitation
- Colloids
Anthony J. Senagore, Thomas Emery, Martin Luchtefeld, et al.
Diseases of the Colon & Rectum, 2009
- Colectomy
- Fluid Therapy
- Laparoscopy
Sources: aggregated from Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI), OpenAlex, Crossref, PubMed and other open scholarly databases. Retracted articles are excluded. Study information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
None known
Half-life
16.1 h
Mechanism
Hydroxyethyl starch (HES) is one of the most frequently used plasma substitutes.
Food interactions
None known
Human targets
None mapped
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
4.34 mg/mL
Half-life
16.1 h
Elimination half-life is 12 h.
Protein binding
Volume of distribution
5.9 L
Metabolism
Elimination
62 %
Clearance
31.4 mL/min
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
HES is a general term and can be sub-classified according to average molecular weight, molar substitution, concentration, C2/C6 ratio and Maximum Daily Dose.
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 729 interactions
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
Elimination half-life is 12 h.
ATC B05AA07
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
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Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Hydroxyethyl Starch
Matched from: Hetastarch
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite the following publications:
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Structured knowledge from the free knowledge base
ATC classifications (Wikidata)
Linked open data from Wikidata (Q415775), a free and open knowledge base operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Data is available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication.