Questions:

1. What are the packaging, storage and labelling requirements for ointments?

Purpose:
 Skin protectant/Topical analgesic
Warnings:
 For external use only
 Keep out of reach of children. If swallowed, get medical help.
Directions:

 adults and children 2 years and over: apply to affected area not more than 3 to 4 times daily
 children under 2 years: ask a doctor

When using this product

 avoid contact with eyes
 do not apply over large areas of the body

(Ref: www.resinol.com)

2. What does the term “mixing by trituration” mean?

The act of reducing a drug to a fine powder and incorporating it thoroughly with sugar of milk
(lactose) by rubbing the two together in a mortar.

(Ref: medical-dictionary.freedictionary.com)

3. What are the properties if an ideal ointment base?

Ideal Ointment Base sould consists of the following things:
a) should not retard wound healing,
b) have a low sensitization index,
c) pharmaceutically elegant,
d) release the medicament efficiently at the site of application,
e) have a low index of irritation,
f) non-dehydrating, non-greasy and neutral in reaction,
g) possess good keeping qualities,
h) compatible with common medicaments,
i) easily washable with water,
j) have minimum number of ingredients,
k) easy to compound and remain stable on storage, and
l) economic and easy to transport

(Ref: www.preservearticle.com)

4. What are the advantages of emulsion bases?

The major advantages of using the emulsion formulation based on a eutectic mixture rather than
more conventional formulations are: (a) the local anesthetic bases are present in their permeable
uncharged forms; (b) the use of a poor solvent, water, as the vehicle provides a saturated system at
low concentrations; (c) lipophilic solvent is absent in the dispersed phase, the presence of which
would decrease the effective distribution coefficients of the active substances between the skin and
the formulation; (d) the droplets consist of dissolvable drug and act as reservoirs to obtain steady-
state release; and (e) the fluid state of the excess drug provides a higher dissolution rate than from a
solid state.
 (Ref: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.com)

5. What are the factors to be considered in the preparation of emulsion bases?

 Oil-soluble drug is prepared in o/w emulsion due its solubility and its taste can be masked by
adding flavoring agents
 For intravenous injection “ i.v.” o/w emulsion is the only type could be used.
 For intramuscular injection “i.m.” both o/w and w/o types of emulsion could be used. Water-
soluble drug can be prepared in w/o emulsion to get prolonged action (depot therapy)
 Topical application
 Semisolid emulsions are called creams and lotions

(Ref: www.google.com)\