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
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
Pastes such as high fluoride toothpastes
Gases such as oxygen (can also be delivered through
the nose)

Tablet in blister pack

Ophthalmic
Eye drops
Lotions
Ointments
Emulsions

Inhalation
Aerosolized medication
single unit packets with full
Dry-powder Inhalers or metered dose inhalers identification (text and bar codes)
Nebulizer-administered medication
Smoking
Vaporizer-administered medication

Unintended ingredients

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. vials of eye drops for single use
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)
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.

Unsafe

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

An ampoule containing atropine

Topical injection 1mL/0.5mg

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)
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/ComplianceM
anuals/CompliancePolicyGuidanceManual/ucm074377.htm). www.fda.gov.
3. "Doctors 'missed' fatal overdoses" (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-1
2366870). 4 February 2011 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
4. "Talcum Powder and Cancer" (https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/talcum-powder-
and-cancer.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.n
lm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2561715). J Natl Med Assoc. 75 (12): 1225–8. PMC 2561715 (h
ttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2561715). PMID 6655726 (https://pubmed.ncb
i.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/1
0.1016%2FS1042-0991%2815%2931507-3). ISSN 1042-0991 (https://www.worldcat.org/iss
n/1042-0991). Retrieved 17 May 2022.

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

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dosage_form&oldid=1182243068"