Abstract
Aerosolized nebulizer therapy is widely performed for inhalant therapy. This therapeutic approach is an ideal drug delivery system (DDS) because it can effectively deliver medications directly to the affected area, and is recognized as a useful route of administration in therapy for various fields. However, some problems still remain regarding the stability of the drug in inhalant solutions during nebulization. We planned a series of studies on the stability of medications used in nebulizer therapies. We have reported that the remaining ratios of some drugs were below 90% after nebulization using a conventional nebulizer. The drugs that showed a decrease in content, a change in appearance or produced a bad smell after nebulization should be used carefully. It is moreover necessary to develop special preparations for nebulization therapy.
A new nebulizer has been developed. We investigated the effect of the nebulizer on the stability of some drugs including antibiotics for inhalant therapy. Stability tests were performed on drugs in terms of visible changes, pH, smell and degradation rate of the drug after nebulization. The changes in pH, apparent appearance and smell were not observed for the drugs. The ratios of all drugs remained at more than 95% after nebulization using the nebulizer.
Therefore, the drugs are highly stable using this nebulizer and should be effective. We concluded that the nebulizing method can be applied for inhalant therapy with many inhalant preparations. As health care professionals we must be responsible for providing patient care that ensures the optimal medication therapy outcomes. We can therefore intervene in aerosolized nebulizer therapy.
