What is Calcium Chloride? Uses, warnings & side effects

Updated May 14, 2025  •  Published Dec 30, 2020

Calcium chloride is a chemical version of calcium, a mineral critical to many body functions. When calcium levels in the body get dangerously low, called hypocalcemia, healthcare professionals inject calcium chloride solution into the bloodstream to rapidly restore calcium levels to normal. Calcium chloride is never self-administered because it requires continuous monitoring.

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Calcium Chloride overview

BRAND NAMES:

  • No brand name versions

Generic Names:

  • Calcium chloride

Uses:

  • Treats low blood calcium

Therapeutic Classes:

  • Parenteral mineral

Forms:

  • Injection

How it’s taken:

  • By intravenous injection

What is Calcium Chloride used for?

Healthcare professionals use calcium chloride intravenous injections to treat moderate to severe low calcium (hypocalcemia).

What form(s) does Calcium Chloride come in?

  • Injection

    • 10% (100 mg/mL)

What are common Calcium Chloride dosages?

  • For hypocalcemia: Administered as an intravenous infusion into a deep vein by a healthcare professional in a monitored clinical setting

    • In adults: 200–1,000 mg

    • In children: 2.7–5 mg/kg

Calcium Chloride images - What does Calcium Chloride look like?

  • Calcium Chloride
    10ml of 10% syringe

  • Calcium Chloride
    10ml of 10% vial

How to take Calcium Chloride

  • Healthcare professionals inject calcium chloride in a monitored clinical or emergency department setting

What to do if you miss a dose of Calcium Chloride

  • Healthcare professionals are responsible for determining and administering doses.

Calcium Chloride contraindications - Who shouldn't take Calcium Chloride?

  • This medicine is not right for everyone. 

  • The doctor will not give a calcium chloride injection to any person with certain heart problems including:

    • Rapid, uncontrolled contractions of the lower chambers of the heart (ventricular fibrillation)

    • “Flatline” (no heart electrical activity recorded on an EKG)

    • Situations where an EKG is reading heart activity but there is no pulse

  • Doctors never give calcium chloride injections to newborns who require IV treatment with the antibiotic ceftriaxone.

Calcium Chloride warnings

  • Doctors administer calcium chloride injections in urgent or emergency situations. If possible, make sure the doctors treating you are aware of all your medical and physical conditions.

  • Healthcare professionals must slowly infuse calcium chloride and monitor for signs of rapid infusion. When infused too quickly, calcium chloride injections can cause problems such as:

    • Low blood pressure

    • Slowed heart rate

    • Heartbeat abnormalities

    • Fainting

  • When calcium chloride is infused into people with injuries, calcium deposits can build up within the injured skin and cause redness, bumps, and tissue death. These deposits can lead to skin infections and ulcers.

  • Calcium chloride injections contain aluminum which may build to toxic levels in the blood if too much calcium chloride is injected.

Calcium Chloride interactions & what to avoid when taking Calcium Chloride

  • If you can, tell the healthcare team about all medications being taken including over-the-counter drugs. Because calcium chloride is an urgent or emergency treatment, it may not be possible to give a full accounting of the medications you take unless you carry a list. 

  • Calcium chloride is never injected at the same time as an intravenous injection of ceftriaxone, an antibiotic. 

    • Calcium chloride is never used in newborns (28 days old or younger) that also require ceftriaxone injections even if they can be done later.

  • Calcium chloride is avoided or used with caution in people taking certain drugs or supplements:

    • The heart rhythm drug digoxin

    • Blood pressure medications called calcium channel blockers

    • Any drug that raises calcium levels in the blood such as thiazide diuretics, lithium, or high-dose vitamin D, vitamin A, or calcium supplements

Calcium Chloride side effects - How does Calcium Chloride make you feel?

Serious side effects

Tell a doctor or other healthcare professional if you experience any discomfort or side effects during a calcium chloride infusion. The doctor will likely stop the infusion until symptoms resolve. In particular, tell the doctor if you notice any signs or symptoms of a possible serious side effect including:

  • Lightheadedness or fainting

  • Fever, feeling warm

  • Bizarre skin sensations, numbness, tingling

  • Skin rash, skin swelling, or skin bumps

  • Swelling or a lump under your skin where the needle is placed

  • Allergic reaction: Itching or hives, swelling in your face or hands, swelling or tingling in your mouth or throat, chest tightness, trouble breathing

Less serious side effects

  • Change of taste in your mouth

  • Burning sensation around the injection site

  • Sense of a “heat wave”

  • Feeling oppressed

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