Dosage Forms and Routes of Administration Flashcards
dosage form
- the way a drug is identified in its physical form
- comprised of active and inactive ingredients
Defining Dosage Forms
- Physical appearance of drug product
- Physical form of drug product prior to dispensing
- The way a product is administered
- Dosage frequency
- How pharmacists and other health professionals might recognize and handle the product
Active Ingredients
drugs
inactive ingredients
excipients
excipients
provide the performance characteristics of the dosage form
- Can also include:
- diluents
- binders
- granulating agents
- glidants
- lubricants
- disintegrants
- sweeteners
- flavors
- pigments
- polymer coating
- Tablets must be strong enough to survive manufacturing, packaging and handling. excipients are important to this requirement
Primary Routes of Administration
- Oral (Enteral)
- Inhalation
- Parenteral
- Topical
- Suppository
Oral Route
- drug administration that involves taking medication by mouth
- most convient route for patients
Pills
- 1st solid oral-dosage form
- many still refer to tablets and capsules as pills
- date back to 1500 bc
- 500 bc earliest known trademark on pills with special indentations similar to today’s embossing
- early pill excipients were:
- honey
- bread dough
- grease
pilula
early name for pill
Tablets
- Most common form of solid oral-dosages
- standard compressed
- controlled release
- chewable
- orally disintegrating
- coated
tablete
- Old French word from which the word tablet is derived
- means “little slab”
William Brockedon
- 1844 in England invented compressed tablets
- (prior to this, they were rolled into long snakes or tubes and cut into “little slabs” = tablets)
- compressed manufacturing is now the most economical way to produce pharmaceuticals
High-Speed Tableting Machines
- can produce up to 1 million tablets per hour
- tablet manufacturing bacame high-speed following WWII when bullet manufacturing methods were modified to create tablets
diluents
a diluting substance
binders
a substance that causes the components of a mixture to cohere
granulating agents
a binding agent added to form the fine particles together into granules
glidants
flow aids used to maintain efficient movement of bulk powders from hoppers into the tableting press
lubricants
used to ensure the tablet is easily ejected from the compression mold
polymer coating
makes the tablet more resilient, extends shelf life, improves appearance while making a tablet easier to swallow, and controling how slowly or quickly the active ingredient is released
- are necessary for medications with an unpleasant taste
- must not stick together during the coating process
- must follow the fine contours of embossed characters or logos on the tablet
- must permit tablets to be permeable enough to eventually disintegrate in the GI tract
Tablet Shapes
- Round, Oval, and Capsule
- most common shapes
- Can be made in virtually any shape, however the 3 most common are easiest for patients to swallow and the more uncommon shapes are prone to chipping and breakage during manufacturing, shipping and handling
Tablet Administration
- orally
- sublingually
- buccally
- ODT
- rectally
- intravaginally
sublingually
under the tongue
buccaly
between the cheek and gum
rectally
anus administration