ORAL POWDERS CONSIST OF Individual unit dose Bulk oral powders powders The dosage problemis The patients divide the overcome by providing dosage by their the patient with a set of ownselves separate doses, each of which has been individually wrapped. BULK ORAL POWDERS The advantages of bulk oral powders as pharmaceutical products are that: Dry powders may be more stable than their liquid equivalent Large doses of bulky powders may be administered with relative ease (e.g. indigestion powders) Absorption from the gastrointestinal tract will be quicker than with capsules or tablets. Powders are useful for administration to children who cannot swallow tablets. The disadvantages of bulk oral powders as pharmaceutical products are that: The accuracy of dosage is not guaranteed,therefore it is not a suitable dosage form for potent medication The large size container means that they may be inconvenient to carry It is difficult to mask any unpleasant taste. INDIVIDUAL UNIT DOSE POWDERS The weight should be 200 mg because:
200mg can be weighed on a Class II balance (or
electronic equivalent) (i.e. 200mg is greater than the minimum weighable quantity of the balance) 200mg is an easy figure to use in pharmaceutical calculations (it is easy to undertake calculations using multiples or divisions of 200) 200mg is the amount of powder that will fit into a size 3 capsule and, for ease, it would make sense to use the same calculations for both powders and capsules HOW TO USE?.... They may be taken by pouring onto the back of the tongue and swallowing, or alternatively theymay be added to a small amount of water and swallowed. The advantages of unit dose powders as The disadvantages of unit dose powders as pharmaceutical products are as follows: phar maceutical products are as follows: They show greater stability than liquid They may be difficult to swallow. dosage forms as the rate of reaction between Unpleasant flavours, bitter or nauseous, are drugs in adosage form in atmospheric difficult to mask when in powder form. conditions is slower than the rate of reaction in a liquid medium. Accurate dosage is possible. They are easy to administer. Powders are relatively easy to swallow and may be mixed with food or drink in order to assist administration. The small particle size leads to more rapid absorption from the gastrointestinal tract compared with tablets. This in turn leads to reduced local irritation of the gastrointestinal tract which may be caused by local concentration of a drug, as encountered when taking an equivalent tablet. They are well accepted by patients, attractive to patients and convenient to carry. CALCULATIONS FOR POWDERS There are two main calculations for powders, the choice being dependent on the quantity of active ingredient to be incorporated into each powder and the total number of unit doses (or excess) to be made. The two different calculations are termed single dilution and double dilution (or serial dilution). SINGLE DILUTION Write out the formula for one powder based on a final weighing of 200 mg. Then write out the formula for the total number of powders. Remember to always make an excess. EXAMPLE...
So long as the final quantities to be weighed are above the minimum
weighable quantity of the balance, single dilution can be used. In this case, 250mg is the smallest amount to be weighed. This is greater than the mini mum weighable quantity of the balance and so single dilution will be suitable. If, however, the amount of active ingredient to be weighed is below the minimum weighable quantity of the balance, double dilution must be used. DOUBLE DILUTION (SERIAL DILUTION) When dosages of very potent drugs are required, the active ingredient will be present in very low concentrations. clumping of the active ingredient, which could have potentially fatalconsequences for the patient EXAMPLE...