Drug Forms
Pharmacology l Chapter 3
Quiz Yourself
1. A drug is manufactured as an enteric-coated tablet to avoid irritating the
stomach lining by dissolving, not in the stomach, but in the small intestine.
Enteric-coated tablets are coated with a special coating that resists stomach
acid but dissolves in the
more alkaline environment of the small intestine.
2. Caplets are easy-to-swallow, coated tablets in the form of capsules.
3. Only need to list five.] Cream, ointment, lotion, gel, powder, liquid, solution, elixir,
syrup, tincture, foam, mousse, emulsion, gel, suspension, suppository, transdermal
patch, pellet, bead, wafer, insert, device, and gas.
4. An elixir contains an alcohol and water base with sugar; a syrup contains a water
and sugar base without alcohol.
5. Transdermal patch.
6. An ampule is a small, slender glass container with a main body and a narrow,
extended top. An alcohol swab is placed around the neck (narrowed
indentation) of the ampule, and the ampule is quickly snapped into two pieces.
A syringe is used to withdraw the drug solution from the body of the broken
ampule. An ampule can be used only once, unused drug must be discarded
because it contains no preservative. A vial is a small glass bottle. The top has an
aluminum cap that protects a rubber stopper beneath until the vial is opened. To
withdraw the liquid drug from a vial, the vial is turned upside down, a syringe is
inserted through the rubber stopper, air is injected into the vial, and the drug
dose is withdrawn. A vial can be used multiple times.
7. A scored tablet can be cut into two or three premeasured pieces to decrease
the dose of the drug.
8. Shake well before using.
9. False.
10. An ointment has a greasy feel, is clear in appearance, and is firm in consistency.
A cream has a non-greasy feel, is opaque/milky in appearance, and is semiliquid in consistency. A lotion has a non-greasy feel, is opaque/milky in
appearance, and is liquid in consistency.
11. The abbreviations CR (controlled release), LA (long acting), SR (slow release),
and XL (extended length) are in the trade name of a drug and indicate a slowrelease tablet manufactured to provide continuous, sustained release of the
drug.
Clinical Applications Questions
1. Cream (Cortizone-10 crème), ointment (Neosporin), gel (Zicam), powder (Lotrimin).
2. Drug-related equipment: vial and needle with syringe. The drug form is a liquid.