Prescription medication · Glycylcycline Antibiotic
tigecycline
Also sold as Tygacil. Tigecycline treats complicated skin infections, infections inside the belly, and community-acquired pneumonia.
Data updated 2026-05-15
- 5,878
- FDA reportsLightly reported
- 2
- InteractionsFew interactions
- Rx
- Availability
What the data shows
tigecycline (Tygacil) is a prescription Glycylcycline Antibiotic, reported less often than most tracked drugs (5,878 FDA reports), with 2 documented drug interactions.
Reporting volume reflects how widely a drug is used and studied, not how dangerous it is, a FAERS report documents a temporal association, never proof of cause.
tigecycline (Tygacil) is a prescription Glycylcycline Antibiotic. Tigecycline treats complicated skin infections, infections inside the belly, and community-acquired pneumonia.
Tigecycline is an antibiotic medicine. It fights bacteria in your body to treat certain infections.
Verify with FDA → · CMS NADAC pricing →
What it does
Tigecycline treats complicated skin infections, infections inside the belly, and community-acquired pneumonia.
Common side effects
Nausea, Vomiting, Diarrhea
Key warnings
Tigecycline may increase the risk of death compared to other antibiotics.
The sections below are summarized in plain English from tigecycline's FDA-approved prescribing information. They describe what the official label says, and are not personal medical advice.
How It Works
Tigecycline stops bacteria from growing. It does this by interfering with how the bacteria makes proteins. This helps your body fight off the infection.
Side Effects (from patient reports)
Based on 5,878 FDA adverse event reports.
Most-reported reactions
Adverse reactions in FAERS for tigecycline, by number of reports
- Nausea
Nausea
390 reports
- Vomiting
Vomiting
267 reports
- Sepsis
Sepsis
265 reports
- Thrombocytopenia
Thrombocytopenia
254 reports
- Death
Death
252 reports
- Septic Shock
Septic Shock
227 reports
- Drug Resistance
Drug Resistance
210 reports
- Diarrhoea
Diarrhoea
202 reports
- Pathogen Resistance
Pathogen Resistance
202 reports
- Coagulopathy
Coagulopathy
195 reports
What this shows Bars show how often each reaction was reported, not how likely it is to happen, a report records a temporal association, never proof that the drug caused it.
Reports over time
Adverse-event reports filed for tigecycline each year to the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS).
Year-to-year volume tracks usage, prescribing, and scrutiny, not a change in per-patient risk. Source: FDA FAERS.
Where tigecycline sits
tigecycline has more FDA adverse-event reports than 27% of the drugs FAERS tracks. A high position reflects how widely a drug is used and watched, not how dangerous it is.
Percentile across all drugs PlainMeds tracks by FAERS report volume. The dot is tigecycline; the line is the median (50th percentile).
FDA Adverse Event Report Analysis
Detailed analysis of 5,878 reports from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). Reports span 2005–2025.
Total Reports
5,878
Reports Mentioning Death
1,597
27.2% of reports — not proof of cause
Hospitalization Reports
2,363
Top Indication
Product Used For Unknown Indication
Gender Distribution
Age Distribution
Most Reported Adverse Reactions (FAERS)
| # | Reaction | Reports |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | NAUSEA | 390 |
| 4 | VOMITING | 267 |
| 5 | SEPSIS | 265 |
| 6 | THROMBOCYTOPENIA | 254 |
| 7 | DEATH | 252 |
| 8 | SEPTIC SHOCK | 227 |
| 9 | DRUG RESISTANCE | 210 |
| 10 | DIARRHOEA | 202 |
| 11 | PATHOGEN RESISTANCE | 202 |
| 12 | COAGULOPATHY | 195 |
| 13 | CONDITION AGGRAVATED | 190 |
| 14 | PLATELET COUNT DECREASED | 167 |
| 16 | PYREXIA | 166 |
| 17 | ACUTE KIDNEY INJURY | 158 |
| 18 | PANCREATITIS ACUTE | 149 |
Reactions in Death Reports
Reactions in Hospitalization Reports
Source: FDA FAERS (Adverse Event Reporting System) Reports are voluntary and do not establish causation
Serious Warnings
Tigecycline may increase the risk of death compared to other antibiotics. Because of this, only use tigecycline when other treatments are not suitable.
Known Drug Interactions
( 7.1 ) Calcineurin Inhibitors: Serum concentrations of calcineurin inhibitors (e.g., tacrolimus, cyclosporine) should be monitored during treatment with tigecycline for injection due to risk of toxicity. 7.2 Calcineurin Inhibitors Concomitant use of tigecycline for injection and calcineurin inhibitors such as tacrolimus or cyclosporine may lead to an increase in serum trough concentrations of the calcineurin inhibitors.
Mechanism: Tigecycline can cause the amount of cyclosporine in your blood to increase to unsafe levels.
Table 2: Examples of CYP450 Interactions with Warfarin Enzyme Inhibitors Inducers CYP2C9 amiodarone, capecitabine, cotrimoxazole, etravirine, fluconazole, fluvastatin, fluvoxamine, metronidazole, miconazole, oxandrolone, sulfinpyrazone, tigecycline, voriconazole, zafirlukast aprepitant, bosentan, carbamazepine, phenobarbital, rifampin CYP1A2 acyclovir, allopurinol, caffeine, cimetidine, ciprofloxacin, disulfiram, enoxacin, famotidine, fluvoxamine, methoxsalen, mexiletine, norfloxacin, oral contraceptives, phenylpropanolamine, propafenone, propranolol, terbinafine, thiabendazole,...
Mechanism: Tigecycline blocks the liver enzyme that normally breaks down warfarin. This causes warfarin to stay in your system longer, which can make your blood too thin and increase the risk of bleeding.
This is a plain-language summary of FDA-label interaction records and does not provide individual medication-combination directions.
Common Questions
What should I tell my doctor before taking tigecycline?
Can tigecycline affect my liver?
Can tigecycline cause diarrhea?
Will tigecycline affect my blood?
Can tigecycline affect my teeth?
What if I have liver problems?
Can I take tigecycline if I'm breastfeeding?
Does tigecycline interact with other medicines?
Can tigecycline cause an allergic reaction?
What if I get pancreatitis?
What are the common side effects of tigecycline?
Does tigecycline interact with other medications?
What drug class is tigecycline?
What pregnancy or breastfeeding source fields are listed for tigecycline?
Related Medications in Glycylcycline Antibiotic
Other drugs grouped near tigecycline - same-class peers and common alternatives.
amikacin
Amikin
Amikacin is an antibiotic medicine.
Compare with tigecycline →
amoxicillin
Amoxil
Amoxicillin and Clavulanate Potassium is a combination medicine used to fight bacterial infections.
Compare with tigecycline →
amoxicillin/clavulanate
Augmentin
Augmentin is a combination of two medicines, amoxicillin and clavulanate.
Compare with tigecycline →
ampicillin/sulbactam
Unasyn
Unasyn is a combination of two antibiotics that fights bacteria in your body.
Compare with tigecycline →
azithromycin
Zithromax, Z-Pack
Azithromycin is an antibiotic that fights bacteria.
Compare with tigecycline →
Compare beyond drug class
Nationwide peers by FAERS volume & death-report share
Two PlainMeds-derived comparison paths for tigecycline: nearest FDA FAERS report volume and nearest death-report share among drugs with at least 1,000 logged reports, excluding same-class neighbors listed above. Counts reflect reporting volume, not proven individual harm.
Similar FAERS report volume
Nearest drugs by total FAERS reports. This record: 5,878.
Similar death-report share
Nearest drugs by FAERS death-report share. This record: 27.17%.
- atomoxetine Δ 0.06 pts · 3,228 reports · Selective Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor 27.23%death share
- morphine Δ 0.31 pts · 72,146 reports · Opioid Analgesic 27.48%death share
- fentanyl Δ 1.29 pts · 95,293 reports · Opioid Analgesic 28.46%death share
- oxycodone Δ 1.37 pts · 180,422 reports · Opioid Analgesic 28.54%death share
Medication Guides
Understanding Drug Interactions
How CYP450 enzymes, inhibitors, and inducers affect your medications
Generic vs Brand Name Drugs
FDA requirements, cost savings, and when the difference matters
Narrow Therapeutic Index Drugs
FDA bioequivalence and label-record context for narrow therapeutic index medicines
Common Drug Interactions
Dangerous medication combinations and how to protect yourself
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What the FDA Data Shows for tigecycline
The FDA label for tigecycline (sold under brand names such as Tygacil) classifies it as a prescription-only medication in the Glycylcycline Antibiotic class. Tigecycline treats complicated skin infections, infections inside the belly, and community-acquired pneumonia. Official labeling lists 5 commonly reported side effects, including Nausea, Vomiting, Diarrhea.
Post-market surveillance from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) captures real-world experience. For this drug, FAERS contains 5,878 voluntary reports. The database also lists 2 documented drug interactions derived from FDA labeling, with the top-flagged interaction rated moderate severity. Acquisition-cost data is surveyed weekly by CMS and updated as manufacturers report changes.
Report counts do not establish causation, a FAERS entry documents a temporal association, not proof that the drug produced the outcome. Widely prescribed medications naturally accumulate more reports than niche therapies, so raw totals must be interpreted alongside total exposure. Shortage status, recall history, and patent information are separate source-record fields. This page is a public FDA/CMS registry and does not provide medical, treatment, substitution, or medication-change directions.
Data Sources
Drug labeling: FDA Drug Labels (SPL/DailyMed). Adverse events: FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS).
FAERS reports are voluntary and do not establish causation. Drug interactions are derived from FDA labeling and clinical references. This registry does not provide medication decisions.
Last updated: January 6, 2026
PlainMeds is rendered directly from FDA openFDA/FAERS extracts, DailyMed labels, and CMS drug-pricing files, no number is typed in by an editor. FAERS counts, recalls, shortages, and price figures on this page are queried live from those federal extracts. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-05-15. Primary sources: openFDA / FAERS, DailyMed and CMS Part B ASP.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Data currency: FDA FAERS adverse-event reports through 2025, CMS NADAC acquisition-cost pricing effective December 2024, compiled from the source snapshot dated . See our methodology for per-source dates and refresh cadence. Spot a figure that looks wrong? Report a data issue.
All federal data sources used on this page
- FDA Orange Book - approved drug products with therapeutic equivalence. accessdata.fda.gov/cder/ob
- FDA DailyMed - NIH-hosted drug labeling for FDA-approved meds. dailymed.nlm.nih.gov
- FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) - post-marketing safety surveillance. fda.gov/drugs/faers
- NLM RxNorm - standardized clinical drug nomenclature. nlm.nih.gov/research/umls/rxnorm
- CMS Medicare Part B Drug Average Sales Price Files - federal drug pricing data. cms.gov/medicare/part-b-drugs/asp
- FDA Drug Shortages Database - current and resolved drug shortage tracking. accessdata.fda.gov/drugshortages