sq
sq

Liquid Dosage Forms

Liquid Dosage Forms: Advantages and Disadvantages, Classification

CEUTICS I B.PHARM THEORY

Alok Bains

10/6/20232 min read

Liquid Dosage form

Liquid dosage forms: Advantages and disadvantages of liquid dosage forms. Excipients used in the formulation of liquid dosage form, Solubility enhancement technique.

A liquid dosage form is a pharmaceutical formulation containing medicines in dissolved, dispersed, or suspended form in a liquid vehicle.

Advantages

  1. Liquid dosage forms offer the following advantages

  2. Easy Swallowing: It is easier to swallow liquid dosage forms than solid dosage forms such as tablets, capsules, etc.

  3. Masking unpleasant taste: Flavoring agents and sweetening agents in Liquid dosage form mask the unpleasant taste of medicines. This improves patient compliance and acceptability.

  4. Mild to GIT: Some drugs produce GIT irritation in solid dosage form. They can be administered in liquid dosage form.

  5. Rapid absorption: Absorption of liquid dosage form from site of application is more fast than solid dosage form

  6. Enhanced bioavailability: Bioavailability of some medicines is more in liquid dosage form than solid dosage form.

  7. Emergency conditions: Liquid dosage form is more suitable than solid dosage form in emergency condition due to its better absorption and bioavailability.

  8. Dose uniformity: Homogeneous dosage form thus uniform distribution of medicaments in liquid dosage form.

  9. Accurate dosing: Liquid dosage form allows precise and flexible dosing. It is useful especially for pediatric and geriatric patients. It is Easy to measure by using household measures,

  10. Customization: Pharmacist can easily compound liquid dosage form to meet specific patient need. It is Easy to adjust dose as per individual patient requirement.

  11. Flexible rout of administration: Liquid dosage form can be administered through several routes such as oral, intravenous, intramuscular, topical, etc routes.

  12. Tube feeding: Tube feeding is required to fulfill body nutrients requirement in some patients. Liquid dosage form is most suitable for tube feeding

  13. Pediatric and geriatric patient: Liquid dosage form is more suitable for infants and elderly patients

  14. Suitability: Some drugs can be administered only in liquid dosage form.

Disadvantages

Some common disadvantages of liquid dosage forms are following

  1. Stability: Liquid dosage form is less stable than solid dosage form. It is more sensitive to light, temperature and chemical reaction than solid dosage form. Thus it becomes less effective with time

  2. Shorter shelf life: Liquid dosage form has shorter half life than solid dosage form due to its fast degradation during storage period.

  3. Special storage requirements: Liquid dosage form requires special storage condition to maintain its effectiveness. Such as store as “store in refrigerator”, “do not allow freezing during storage”, “store in amber color bottle”, etc.

  4. Leakage and Spilling: Liquid dosage form is prone to leak and spill during handling by the pharmacist, patient or caregiver.

  5. Contamination: Liquid dosage form is more susceptible to contamination than solid dosage form. This lead to infection and adverse reaction

  6. Measuring accuracy: It is challenging to measure Liquid dosage form accurately by the patient or caregiver. This lead to dosing error.

  7. Compatibility: Some medicines are not compatible in Liquid dosage form.

  8. Taste and palatability: Liquid dosage form has unpleasant taste and odor. This lead to non compliance of dosing schedule especially by the pediatric patients.

  9. Bulkiness: Liquid dosage form requires more space to store and transport than solid dosage form.

  10. Cost: Manufacturing and packaging cost of Liquid dosage form is more than solid dosage form.

Classification of Liquid Dosage Forms

Liquid Dosage Forms are classified under the following categories

  1. Monophasic Liquid Dosage Form

    • i. For Oral Application: Simple mixture, Syrups, Elixirs, Droughts, Drops, Linctus, Tincture, Spirit,

    • ii. For External Application: Lotions, Liniments, Colloidions,

    • iii. For Special Applications: Aerosols, Douches, Eye drops, Eye lotions, Ear drops, Gargles, Inhalation, Mouth Washes, Nasal drops, Nasal spray, and Throat Paints.

    • iv. For Parenteral Application

  2. Biphasic Liquid Dosage Form

    • i. Emulsion

    • ii. Suspension