Medications can be administered in many different ways; however, the oral route of drug delivery is most commonly used for the diagnosis or treatment of the disease because it has many advantages, although it also has some disadvantages compared to the other route of drug administration.
The oral route of drug administration is the most preferred method of taking the medication by patients since it is the most convenient, safest, and economical way to deliver drugs; doctors also prefer to prescribe it.
The dosage forms of the oral route include solid and liquid dosage forms e.g. tablets (modified-release immediate-release, enteric-coated), capsules (hard or soft gelatin), powders, granules, emulsions, suspensions, syrup, solutions, and elixirs, etc. They need to be placed in the mouth and swallowed. Most of these are taken for the effect of systemic medication, which is followed by absorption from various surfaces along the gastrointestinal tract.
Advantages of oral route of drug administration:
- The major advantage of the oral route of drug administration is that it is a simple, convenient, safest drug that readily available by prescription.
- Available as a ready-to-use, with no preparation or extra requirement, it can be self-administered with water or as it is.
- It has the versatility to accommodate a wide variety of drugs and it may formulate with different types to change or control the rate and/or time of the release of an active pharmaceutical ingredient to the suitable site in the system.
- No special skill or training is required for the patient to take the drug.
- It is an economical route for the administration of medications that can be self-administered without causing any pain.
- It generally has a lower drug reaction than other routes of drug administration.
- To make them attractive, the pharmaceutical industry can manufacture in various colors, shapes, and sizes as per the requirement.
Disadvantages of oral route of drug administration:
- The major disadvantage of the oral route of drug administration is that the most orally administered drugs are absorbed slowly resulting in the slow onset of action.
- It is not suitable for an unconscious patient, unpalatable, and highly irritant drugs, patients with severe vomiting and diarrhea, drugs that are destroyed by gastric acid and digestive juices.
- Drugs that have an unpleasant taste and odor are inconvenient to swallow, especially for the elderly and children.
- To mask the bitter or unpleasant taste and odor of active pharmaceutical ingredients, need to formulate with special excipients or processes, resulting in increases in the product cost.
- The oral route of administration of the drug is often inefficient as absorption is irregular and incomplete in most cases.
- Some doses of the medicines may be taken by measuring the dosage, such as liquid, or the tablet may be cut into two parts, in which case the patient needs to be aware.
Commonly asked questions on the route of drug administration are as follows.
What are the different routes of drug administration?
Transdermal, inhalation, topical, sublingual, rectal, vaginal nasal, and intravenous routes of drug administration are some of the types of the route of drug administration.
What is the major advantage of the inhalation route of drug administration?
The major advantage of the inhalation route of drug administration is that it delivers the drug to the disease target site and provides rapid onset of action.
What are the different types of modified release drug delivery systems?
Prolonged-action dosage forms, extended-release dosage forms, sustained-release dosage forms, controlled-release dosage forms, targeted-release dosage forms, delayed-release dosage forms, and repeat-action dosage forms, etc. are the types of modified release drug delivery systems.
What is the major disadvantage of the transdermal route of drug administration?
The stratum corneum can be effectively crossed only by drugs that have a lipophilic character, so the drugs must have certain desirable physicochemical properties for penetration.
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