Group no. 4
Group members: Garcillan, Kevin Mark Marcelo
Mark Aaron
Posh
Date: November 13, 2014
Yr/Section: B.S. in Pharmacy 2A
Aspirin Divided Powders
Preparation no. 1
I. Objective: To prepare aspirin Divided Powders
II. Materials:
Ingredients:
Aspirin
Lactose
Apparatus/Equipment :
Analytical Balance Spatula, Porcelain and Metal
Mortar and Pestle, White Paper, Pill Tile
III. Formula:
Aspirin…………………………………………………………………….3g
Lactose…………………………………………………………………….5g
To make……………………………………………………………………10 papers
IV. Compounding Procedures:
1. Weigh 3g of aspirin and 5g of lactose accurately.
2. Triturate the two powders separately.
3. Mix two ingredients using the spatulation method.
4. Place the powders on a pill tile and use the block-and-divide method, making sure that
there is equal in thickness and height.
5. Divide into required quantity.
6. Wrap in individual white paper.
7. Place in an appropriate container.
8. Label the container.
V. Questions:
1. What are the uses of the following?
a. aspirin
Aspirin is used to reduce fever and relieve mild to moderate pain from conditions such as
muscle aches,toothaches, common cold, and headaches. It may also be used to reduce pain and
swelling in conditions such asarthritis. Aspirin is known as a salicylate and a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID). It works by blocking a certain natural substance in your body to
reduce pain and swelling. Consult your doctor before treating a child younger than 12 years.
Your doctor may direct you to take a low dose of aspirin to prevent blood clots. This
effect reduces the risk of stroke and heart attack. If you have recently had surgery on clogged
arteries (such as bypass surgery, carotid endarterectomy, coronary stent), your doctor may direct
you to use aspirin in low doses as a "blood thinner" to prevent blood clots.
b. lactose
Lactose (C12H22O11) is milk sugar. It is a disaccharide composed of one galactose and
one glucose molecule. In the pharmaceutical industry, lactose is used to help form tablets
because it has excellent compressibility properties. It is also used to form a diluent powder for
dry-powder inhalations. Lactose may be listed as lactose hydrous, lactose anhydrous, lactose
monohydrate, or lactose spray-dried.
You may or may not be surprised to learn that many hundreds of pills contain lactose as a
filler or a coating. Why do pill manufacturers do this? Four main reasons:
1. Lactose is almost tasteless except for a slight sweetness, making it an ideal filler.
2. Lactose prevents caking, presumably a useful trait for a chewable-type tablet.
3. Lactose can also be sprayed onto a pill to produce a shiny, hard coating, making other
kinds of pills easier to swallow.
4. Hardly anybody is bothered by small amounts of lactose.
2. Describe the importance of trituration and the correct technique in performing the
procedure.
A trituration is a dilution of a potent drug powder with an inert diluent powder, usually
lactose, in a definite proportion by weight. We can then remove a weighable portion (aliquot) of
the mixture containing the desired quantity of substance to maintain an acceptable range of
accuracy.
Using ratio and proportion, we can determine the weight of drug and lactose required to
make the trituration as well as the weight of the aliquot to be used to fill the prescription.
Keep in mind that any substance that must be weighed on the balance drug (A), lactose
(B-A), and aliquot (D) must be at least 120 mg.
Trituration method:
A sterilized mortar and pestle, and a sterilized scraper (a porcelain spoon or spatula) must
be used.
Step1:
Create the medicating potency by triturating one part of the substance with one part
quality milk sugar until the original substance is no longer identifiable.
Step 2:
According to Robert Muntz, Mag. Pharm. of Remedia Homeopathic Pharmacy
(www.remedia.at), to produce a centesimal trituration (1C-trituration) a small amount of the
medicinal substance is weighed and 99 times that amount of milk sugar is set aside. The
sterilized mortar is filled with one third of the lactose, which is then rubbed evenly onto the
surface with a pestle. In doing so the pores of the porcelain mortar are filled so that the medicinal
substance cannot deposit in the pores.
The medicinal substance is added and the first prover triturates (grinds) vigorously for 6
minutes. The mortar is then scraped for 4 minutes with the sterilized scraper. The substance is
again triturated for 6 minutes and scraped for 4 minutes equaling a total of 20 minutes. The
mortar is then passed to the next prover and the procedure is repeated: 6 minutes of trituration, 4
minutes of scraping, 6 minutes of trituration, 4 minutes of scraping. The mortar is again passed
to the next prover and the procedure is repeated taking one hour altogether. At the end of the last
scraping the powder is dumped from the mortar and saved as a 1C potency.
Step 3:
The second third of the lactose is added and the above procedure is repeated, passing the
mortar to the next prover every 20 minute interval. The remaining powder is dumped from the
mortar and saved as a 2C potency.
Step 4:
The final third of the lactose is added and once again the above procedure is completed
for the 3C potency. At this point the substance is preserved in the milk sugar and stable enough
to ship to pharmacy.
Helios pharmacy recommends that if the substance is organic it should be added to ethyl
alcohol and distilled water to prevent the growth of molds, mildew or bacteria.
In addition, the correct procedure for preparing such triturations or any similar dilution of
a potent powder medicament, to ensure uniform distribution of the latter, is
1. Reduce the drug to a moderately fine powder in a mortar.
2. Add about an equal amount of diluents and mix well by thorough trituration in the
mortar.
3. Successively add portions of diluents, triturating after each addition, until the
entire quantity of diluents has been incorporated.
Under no circumstances should the entire quantity of diluents be added at once to the
drug that is to be diluted in the expectation that uniform dispersion of the latter will be more
expeditiously achieved on brief trituration of the mixture.
3. Describe spatulation method.
Four methods—spatulation, trituration, sifting, and tumbling—are generally described in
pharmacy textbooks as methods of blending in extemporaneous compounding. Compounders
may also use newer technology, such as electric mixers and blenders.
Spatulation is the mixing of powders on an ointment slab or pad using a spatula. With
this method, there is no particle size reduction, so the powders to be mixed must be fine and of
uniform size. Because no pressure is used, the resulting powder is usually light and is not
compacted. This method should be used when hard trituration is to be avoided, such as when
blending powders that have previously been coated to prevent the formation of a liquid eutectic
mixture.
4. What are the advantages of powders?
The word "powder" refers to a chemical or mixture that is solid in physical state. In
compounding, "powder" refers to a dosage formulation that is solid in physical state. But the
formulation may be composed of only the active drug or may be a mixture of the active drug and
other ingredients.
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Powders offer some unique advantages:
Powder form is the most versatile and convenient to prescribe, compound and administer.
A physician has the option to deviate from the conventional dose of a medicament
according to the requirement of the patient.
Powders are stable and do not enter into reaction in solid state, lesser difficulties are
experienced in compounding them together,
It is possible to reduce them in the desired particle size range and thus facilitate rapid
absorption.
Less incompatibility as compared to liquid dosage form.
Powders are in the form of small particles; they offer a large surface area and are rapidly
dissolved n the gastrointestinal (GI) tract minimizing the problems of local irritation.
Drugs that have to be given in bulk can be best administered in powder form by mixing
them with foods or drinks.
Whenever effervescence is desired, accurate quantities of the two reacting powders are
mixed with water.
It is difficult for children and infants to swallow tablets and capsules and under such
circumstances drugs may be administered in powder form making them palatable by
mixing with milk, fruit juice or honey.
Manufacturing of powder is economic hence product cost is quite economic as compare
to other dosage form.
each dose can contain a different amount of active drug
can be administered easily to infants and young children who cannot swallow tablets or
capsules
drug will have a rapid onset of action since disintegration is not required
can be applied to many body cavities such as ears, nose, tooth socket, throat
drugs tend to most stable as a solid
can be made into many different dosage formulations (capsules, tablets, powders for
reconstitution, dusting powders, bulk powders, powders for inhalation, etc.)
5. What are the disadvantages of preparing powders?
Powders have several disadvantages as a dosage form as described below:
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Patient may misunderstand the correct method of use. Without clear instruction, patients
may inhale through the nose a drug intended for oral administration. In oral
administration, it may have to be clear whether the drug has to be dissolved first in
water or taken as is.
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It is undesirable to take bitter or unpleasant tasting drugs by oral ad-ministration. Many
herbal drugs (mainly infusions in boiling water) have very bitter tastes. To overcome the
unpleasant taste of the extracts, it was often told that “bitter medicine is better medicine.” This may not
necessarily be true.
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It is difficult to protect powders containing hygroscopic, deliquescent (tending to melt or
dissolve in humid environment), or aromatic materials from decomposition.
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. Uniform, individually wrapped doses of powders (sachets) are required and this may
increase the manufacturing expense. (It is possible to include a spoon in a packet of
powder drug. This may result in inaccurate amount of drug delivered).
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Powder must be a homogeneous blend of all of the components and must be of the most
advantageous particle size. The particle size of a drug influences the rate of solubility in
water. It may also influence the biological activity of a drug.
As compared to other dosage forms, powders are time consuming to compound.
Volatile, hygroscopic, oxidizing and deliquescent drugs create obvious difficulties when
dispensed as powders.
Dose inaccuracy.
6. What is the other term for divided powders?
Divided Powders (chartulae or chartula; Charts; Powder Papers)
References:
Online:
http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-1082-3/aspirin-oral/aspirin-oral/details
http://www.drugs.com/inactive/lactose-157.html
http://www.stevecarper.com/li/Lactose_in_Medications.htm
http://pharmlabs.unc.edu/labs/triturations/method.htm
http://www.greatlakesprovings.com/trituration-method.html
https://www.inkling.com/read/contemporary-guide-pharmacy-practice-thompson3rd/chapter-25/v--principles-of-compounding
http://pharmlabs.unc.edu/labs/powders/properties.htm
http://www.preservearticles.com/2011122319079/what-are-the-advantages-anddisadvantages-of-powder-medicine.html
http://druginfocentre.blogspot.com/2013/01/advantages-and-disadvantages-ofpowders.html
http://pharmlabs.unc.edu/labs/powders/divided.htm
Book:
Remington: The Science and Practice of Pharmacy