5/14/23, 12:02 AM Dosage form - Wikipedia

Dosage form
Dosage forms (also called unit doses) are pharmaceutical drug products in the form in which they
are marketed for use, with a specific mixture of active ingredients and inactive components
(excipients), in a particular configuration (such as a capsule shell, for example), and apportioned into
a particular dose. For example, two products may both be amoxicillin, but one is in 500 mg capsules
and another is in 250 mg chewable tablets. The term unit dose can also sometimes encompass non-
reusable packaging as well (especially when each drug product is individually packaged[1]), although
the FDA distinguishes that by unit-dose "packaging" or "dispensing".[2] Depending on the context,
multi(ple) unit dose can refer to distinct drug products packaged together, or to a single drug product
containing multiple drugs and/or doses. The term dosage form can also sometimes refer only to the
pharmaceutical formulation of a drug product's constituent drug substance(s) and any blends
involved, without considering matters beyond that (like how it is ultimately configured as a
consumable product such as a capsule, patch, etc.). Because of the somewhat vague boundaries and
unclear overlap of these terms and certain variants and qualifiers within the pharmaceutical industry,
caution is often advisable when conversing with someone who may be unfamiliar with another
person's use of the term.

Depending on the method/route of administration, dosage forms come in several types. These include
many kinds of liquid, solid, and semisolid dosage forms. Common dosage forms include pill, tablet, or
capsule, drink or syrup, among many others.

When one drug product (for example, one tablet, one capsule, one syrup) contains more than one
drug (more than one active ingredient), that product is a combination drug (fixed-dose combination;
FDC).

In naturopathy, dosages can take the form of decoctions and herbal teas, as well as the more
conventional methods previously mentioned.

The route of administration (ROA) for drug delivery is dependent on the dosage form of the substance
in question. Various dosage forms may exist for a single particular drug, since some medical
conditions such as being unconscious can restrict ROA. For example, persistent nausea, especially
with vomiting, may make it difficult to use an oral dosage form, and in such a case, it may be
necessary to use an alternative route such as inhalational, buccal, sublingual, nasal, suppository or
parenteral instead. Additionally, a specific dosage form may be a requirement for certain kinds of
drugs, as there may be issues with various factors like chemical stability or pharmacokinetics. As an
example, insulin cannot be given orally because upon being administered in this manner, it is
extensively metabolized in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) before reaching the blood stream, and is
thereby incapable of sufficiently reaching its therapeutic target destinations. The oral and intravenous
doses of a drug such as paracetamol will differ for the same reason.[3]

Oral
Pills, i.e. tablets or capsules
Liquids such as syrups, solutions, elixers, emulsions, and tinctures
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Liquids such as decoctions and herbal teas

Orally disintegrating tablets
Lozenges or candy (electuaries)
Thin films (e.g., Listerine Pocketpaks, nitroglycerin) to be
placed on top of or underneath the tongue as well as against
the cheek
Powders or effervescent powder or tablets, often instructed to
be mixed into a food item
Plants or seeds prepared in various ways such as a cannabis
edible Tablet in blister pack

Pastes such as high fluoride toothpastes

Gases such as oxygen (can also be delivered through the
nose)

Ophthalmic
Eye drops
Lotions
Ointments single unit packets with full
Emulsions identification (text and bar codes)

Inhalation
Aerosolized medication
Dry-powder Inhalers or metered dose inhalers
Nebulizer-administered medication
Smoking
Vaporizer-administered medication

Unintended ingredients vials of eye drops for single use

Talc is an excipient often used in pharmaceutical tablets that may

end up being crushed to a powder against medical advice or for recreational use. Also, illicit drugs
that occur as white powder in their pure form are often cut with cheap talc. Natural talc is cheap but
contains asbestos while asbestos-free talc is more expensive. Inhaled talc that has asbestos is
generally accepted as being able to cause lung cancer if it is inhaled. The evidence about asbestos-free
talc is less clear, according to the American Cancer Society.[4]

Injection

Parenteral
Intradermally-administered (ID)
Subcutaneously-administered (SC)
Intramuscularly-administered (IM)

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Intraosseous administration (IO)

Intraperitoneally-administered (IP)
intravenously-administered (IV)
Intracavernously-administered (ICI)

These are usually solutions and suspensions.

Unintended ingredients

Safe

Eye drops (normal saline in disposable packages) are distributed

to syringe users by needle exchange programs.

An ampoule containing atropine

Unsafe injection 1mL/0.5mg

The injection of talc from crushed pills has been associated with
pulmonary talcosis in intravenous drug users.[5]

Topical
Creams, liniments, balms (such as lip balm or antiperspirants and deodorants), lotions, or
ointments, etc.
Gels and hydrogels
Ear drops
Transdermal and dermal patches to be applied to the skin
Powders

Unintended use
It is not safe to calculate divided doses by cutting and weighing medical skin patches, because
there's no guarantee that the substance is evenly distributed on the patch surface.[6] For example,
fentanyl transdermal patches are designed to slowly release the substance over 3 days. It is well
known that cut fentanyl transdermal consumed orally have cause overdoses and deaths.
Single blotting papers for illicit drugs injected from solvents in syringes may also cause uneven
distribution across the surface.

Other
Intravaginal administration
Vaginal rings
Capsules and tablets
Suppositories
Rectal administration (enteral)

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Suppositories
Suspensions and solutions in the form of enemas
Gels
Urethral
Nasal sprays

See also
Classification of Pharmaco-Therapeutic Referrals
Drug delivery
Route of administration
Pharmaceutical packaging

References
1. "unit dose" (http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/unit+dose). thefreedictionary.com.
2. Affairs, Office of Regulatory. "Compliance Policy Guides - CPG Sec 430.100 Unit Dose Labeling
for Solid and Liquid Oral Dosage Forms" (https://www.fda.gov/ICECI/ComplianceManuals/Compli
ancePolicyGuidanceManual/ucm074377.htm). www.fda.gov.
3. "Doctors 'missed' fatal overdoses" (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-123668
70). 4 February 2011 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
4. "Talcum Powder and Cancer" (https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/talcum-powder-and-c
ancer.html). www.cancer.org.
5. Davis, LL. (Dec 1983). "Pulmonary "mainline" granulomatosis: talcosis secondary to intravenous
heroin abuse with characteristic x-ray findings of asbestosis" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ar
ticles/PMC2561715). J Natl Med Assoc. 75 (12): 1225–8. PMC 2561715 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.ni
h.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2561715). PMID 6655726 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6655726).
6. Cohen, Michael R. (1 March 2013). "The danger with cutting medication patches: Institute for Safe
Medication Practices" (https://www.pharmacytoday.org/article/S1042-0991(15)31507-3/fulltext).
Pharmacy Today. 19 (3): 88. doi:10.1016/S1042-0991(15)31507-3 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS1
042-0991%2815%2931507-3). ISSN 1042-0991 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1042-0991).
Retrieved 17 May 2022.

External links
Media related to Dosage forms at Wikimedia Commons
Dosage From Development (http://www.irisys.com)

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