Medication management of adults with swallowing difficulties continued

Management

Management of patients with evidence of swallowing difficulty

The following algorithm assumes that the patient has been assessed thoroughly, and non-adherence to medication due to a problem with the administration routine has been ruled out

Alternative routes of administration

• Check with pharmacist and/or Medicines Information Centre to ascertain whether alternative formulations of the medication in question are available, for example:
  • transdermal
  • parenteral/injectable
  • buccal
  • rectal
  • intranasal
  • sublingual
    
• If a suitable formulation is not available:
  • for patients who are not able to take medicines orally:
    • consider prescribing an alternative medicine or discontinuing the treatment
  • for patients able to take medicines orally:
    • consider prescribing an alternative medication
    • if no alternative exists, altering a solid-dose oral formulation may need to be contemplated (see below)

Switching to liquid or dispersible oral formulations

• Changing the formulation of a product may alter its bioavailability, efficacy and/or side-effect profile
  • do not assume that the dose of a liquid/dispersible formulation will be the same as the solid oral form of a particular product; check dose equivalence
  • when switching from a sustained-release to a standard-release form of a medicine, dose frequency will need to be adjusted accordingly
  • evaluate efficacy and side effects frequently
    
• Dispersible tablets may not give an even solution so part dosing is potentially inaccurate
  
• Some medicines are available as non-licensed liquid 'specials' or extemporaneous preparations, which are formulated to meet the requirements of a doctor for specific use by an individual patient:
  • dose uniformity or reproducibility may not have been tested for extemporaneous preparations, or some 'specials'
  • to minimize the variability of supply, the product specification should be documented: the formulation, method of preparation, and strength should be noted
    
• For a comprehensive list of products available in liquid or dispersible form, see www.swallowingdifficulties.com
  

Continuity of care

• To ensure continuity of care, e.g. for patients moving from secondary to primary care:
  • any changes to a dosage formulation should be noted, and this information clearly communicated on to subsequent prescribers and other healthcare professionals
  • swapping between liquid formulations, particularly liquid 'specials' (which do not have bioavailability data), should be avoided

Altering a solid-dose oral medication

• Altering a solid-dose formulation should be reserved as last-resort and practised only after appropriate advice has been sought from a pharmacist and/or Medicines Information Centre
  
• Certain types of drug should never be altered without advice from a pharmacist and/or the manufacturers due to the changes these actions impose on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the drug; these include the following types:
  • modified release
  • enteric coated
  • hormonal, cytotoxic or steroidal
  • film and sugar coated
    
• The outcome of such pharmacological changes can be accentuated in older people due to age-related differences in pharmacokinetics
  
• Prescribers should also consider:
  • how stable the product is once opened to the environment
  • whether the safety of the person preparing or administering the product would be put at risk
    • alteration of a solid-dose oral formulation should be considered under Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) regulations since there may be an increased exposure to chemical components
    • the person may have a hypersensitivity to the product or its constituents
  • whether the dose preparation could be accurately repeated
  • the amount and type of diluent and/or thickening agents that would be used
  • whether the results would be unpalatable
    
• Variation in the amount of drug reaching the system due to formulation change may impact efficacy and the potential for side effects, particularly in drugs with a small therapeutic window including:
  • phenytoin
  • digoxin
  • carbamazepine
  • theophylline
  • sodium valproate

Medication management of adults with swallowing difficulties continued

Algorithm for the medication management of adults with swallowing difficulties

about this working party guideline…
sponsor—	supported by an educational grant from Rosemont Pharmaceuticals Ltd
working party members—	David Wright (chair, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy), Nigel Chapman (HM Coroner for Nottinghamshire), Mathias Foundling-Miah (Consultant Pharmacist and Barrister at Law), Ralph Greenwall (Senior Pharmacist) , Richard Griffith (Lecturer in Healthcare Law), Anne Guyon (Lecturer in Speech and Language Therapy) & Honor Merriman (general practitioner)
further information—	call Connectmedical (01442 876100) for further information and a copy of the full guideline. August 2006