What is a suspension? You will learn the answer to this question from the materials in this article. We will also tell you how to prepare suspensions for treating young children.
general information
A suspension is a dry substance that does not completely or partially dissolve in a liquid. It is distributed in the form of minute particles. In medicine, such a diluted powder is a drug that is used to treat a particular disease.
Features
A suspension is a coarse dispersed system having a solid dispersed phase and a liquid dispersion medium. Usually its particles are so large (more than 10 microns) that they can settle quite easily under gravity (that is, sediment). Those mixtures in which such a process proceeds extremely slowly (due to the small difference in the density of the dispersion medium and the dispersed phases) are called suspensions.
It should be specially noted that in concentrated suspensions dispersed structures arise rather easily and quickly. Let us give an example of typical suspensions that are not used in medicine:
- drilling fluids;
- enamel paints;
- cement mortars;
- pulps, etc.
In addition, such solutions are often used in the manufacture of ceramics.
Suspensions: cooking technology
Currently, there are 2 ways to obtain suspensions: condensation and dispersion. The latter is based on grinding the medicinal substance using mechanical equipment, ultrasound, etc. It should also be noted that when preparing a suspension by this method, specialists take into account the degree of hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity of the main raw material, which is introduced into the suspension.
As for the condensation method, it involves replacing the solvent. So, to a dispersion medium in which the drug does not dissolve, a substance is added in a solvent pre-mixed with this medium.
Obtaining medical suspensions under production conditions can be carried out in completely different ways, namely:
- intensive and constant mechanical mixing, which is carried out using high-speed mixers, as well as rotary pulsation apparatus;
- ultrasonic dispersion using electrostrictive and magnetostrictive emitters;
- grinding solid raw materials in a liquid medium using colloidal mills;
- by condensation method (most often used in the conditions of pharmacy production).
Antibiotics in suspension for children
Due to the fact that not every child can take the whole pill, a large number of drugs for children are produced in the form of a suspension.
A ready-to-use suspension is a liquid drug mixture that is applied topically, internally and parenterally. During storage, such antibiotic preparations are extremely unstable. That is why, before using them directly, the bottles with the contents should be shaken for 1 or 2 minutes.
The benefits of suspensions
Why are antibiotics most often prescribed in suspension for children and what are the advantages of such a dosage form over others? You will find the answer to the question below:
- Compared with others, such a dosage form is most convenient for the child, as well as for those patients who, for some objective reasons, cannot swallow capsules or tablets whole.
- Suspensions have a less intense and saturated taste than conventional medicinal solutions. Moreover, this form of release makes it easy to adjust the aroma and taste of the drug by adding various syrups and harmless flavors to it. This is precisely the huge advantage of suspension for children. After all, it is far from always a sick child can be made to drink a bitter and tasteless medicine.
- Drugs in the form of suspensions are more stable than in solution. This fact is especially important during the manufacture of antibiotics.
Suspension Disadvantages
According to experts, the disadvantages of drug suspensions are the following:
- Physical instability of the drug, namely: sedimentation (or the so-called sedimentation), the increase and combination of particle sizes (i.e. their aggregation), the combination of liquid and solid phases (i.e. condensation). Such physical phenomena contribute to the ascent or, conversely, the deposition of a solid phase. In this case, the principle of suspension uniformity is noticeably violated.
- Before direct use, the suspension should be mixed or shaken. This is necessary in order to restore a homogeneous state of the mixture.
- Another disadvantage of the drug suspension is that it has a relatively short shelf life (about three days).
How to breed?
If you or your child has been prescribed a drug suspension to treat a particular disease, then before applying the powder, it needs to be diluted correctly. For this, water or some other solution prescribed by a doctor is used. Thus, the necessary amount of liquid should be drawn into the dosing syringe, and then added to the vial with the dry drug substance. At the end, the container must be shaken vigorously. After this, the suspension can be safely used for its intended purpose.
It should be specially noted that one or another ratio of medicinal powder and water should be determined only by the attending doctor. After all, each individual drug has exclusively its own special concentration.