The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 271 No 7259 p118
26 July 2003

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Letters to the Editor

Drug administration

The practicality of oral syringes

From Mr H. P. Radnan, MRPharmS

The report in The Pharmaceutical Journal (5 July, p33) of an overdose administered by a mother to her child (age not specified) highlights three problems.

First, the choice of the preparation by the prescriber — a suspension containing 50mg/5ml to give a daily dose of 3mg — could be considered inappropriate. To try to administer accurately a volume of 0.3ml from a standard 5ml oral syringe is well-nigh impossible. Perhaps a more proactive approach would have persuaded the doctor to change the prescription to the more appropriate 5mg/5ml suspension, which is also readily available, in which case the infant's mother would not have to change the administration procedure to which she was accustomed.

The second point is that there are available oral syringes of a more appropriate size for measuring small amounts. Baxa manufactures a range of suitable oral syringes starting from 0.5ml. Furthermore, it also supplies marker dose labels. These are clear, self-adhesive strips with a black line. The label can be positioned along the barrel of the syringe so that the black line acts as a marker to which the plunger head is to be withdrawn, thus enabling the exact required volume (0.3ml in this case) to be obtained.

The third point is never to assume that the patient, mother or carer is adept with an oral syringe. Pharmacists should consider keeping a bottle/syringe assembly behind the counter so that their staff can demonstrate its use.

 Paul Radnan
Salford

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