Background: Antibiotics are frequently prescribed medication. When drugs are dispensed in form of syrups or suspensions, appropriate volume should be dispensed in a bottle otherwise, it may result into wastage of drug, inadequate treatment, and resistance and also increased cost of treatment.
Aims and Objective: The aim of our study was to analyze systemic antibacterial liquid formulations to ascertain the availability of adequate strength, volume dispensed for adequate treatment.
Materials and Methods: The commonly available (IDR triple, Issue 2, 2016) oral liquid antibacterial formulations were analyzed. According to the weight of child (for 12 and 18 kg), amount of drug and requirement of number of bottles for 5 days were calculated.
Results: Majority of manufacturers have dispensed inadequate volume of antibacterial drugs which was not sufficient for one course of therapy. For example, most of the formulations of cephalexin, cefixime, cefpodoxime, and amoxicillin + clavulanic acid were available in dispensing volume of 30 ml. This results into inadequate dose, wastage of drug (residual volume), resistance, and unnecessary social and financial burden to the patient. Hence, more number of bottles shall be required to complete a course of antibiotic.
Conclusion: The dispensing volume of oral liquid dosage forms of most of the formulations were inadequate and thus, minimum amount dispensed should be 60 ml or as applicable for an antibiotic.
Key words: Antibiotics; Formulations; Pediatrics; Suspensions; Syrup
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