DRUG ABSORPTION Team Kester

What is the process by which drugs are

transferred from the site of entry into the

body to the bloodstream?

Age Groups

Neonate- birth to 1

year of age

Pediatric- 1 to 17

years of age

Geriatric- 65 years

old and up

What Factors Affect Absorption?

•Vehicle administration of drug

•Food and fluid taken with drug

•Properties/formulation of drug

•Rate of blood flow

•Stomach acidity

•GI mobility

Vehicle Administration of Drug

•Enteral (oral, buccal, rectal)

•Parenteral (Intravenous- fastest

delivery, intramuscular,

subcutaneous)

•Topical (skin, lungs, vagina, ears,

nose, eyes)

Enteral

• In geriatric patients, oral medications are often taken

with food to assist with administration

Parenteral

• In pediatric patients, intramuscular injections

are avoided due to tissue damage

• In neonate patients, intramuscular absorption is

erratic due to lack of muscle and fat tissue

Topical

• In neonate patients, topical medications are

absorbed faster because their skin is very thing

and they have a large body surface area

• In pediatric patients, skin disruptions such as

burns and eczema increase absorption

Frequent feeding of infants impedes drug

absorption.

Physicochemical Properties/Dosage

Form of Drug

•Liquid and syrups offer a faster delivery

of drugs than enteric-coated tablets

•Lipid solubility, molecular weight and

polarity

Rate of Blood Flow

•In geriatric patients, reduced blood

flow to GI tract

•In neonate patients, decreased

renal blood flow

•In pediatric patients, diminished

muscle mass may reduce blood

flow

Stomach Acidity

•In neonate patients, variable

gastric pH leads to diminished

absorption

•In pediatric patients, gastric pH is

less acidic

•In geriatric patients, gastric acid

secretin is decreased

Gastrointestinal Mobility

•In neonate patients, prolonged

gastric transit time leads to

diminished absorption

•Gastric emptying rates are faster for

pediatric patients than in neonates

•In geriatric patients, gastric

emptying time is increased

Why does a nurse need to know

about absorption?

All of the above

To make sure medications are given safely

They do not

To know which route of drug administration to use

Both B and D

What Difference Does Absorption Make in

Patient Care

• Provides higher quality health care

• Deliver the right medication in the right dosage to

the right patient type.

• Improves patients experiences

• They are getting the correct drug in the correct form

in the correct dosage

• Increases efficiency

• The correct drug is going to the correct patient

(hopefully without human error)

Credits• RN, Carol Taylor, CSFN, MSN, PhD Carol Lillis RN, MSN Priscilla

LeMone RN, DSN, FAAN Pamela Lynn RN, . Fundamentals of Nursing,

7th Edition. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

<vbk:9781451105957#page(1683)>.

• http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/clinical_pharmacology/pharmaco

kinetics/drug_absorption.html

• http://howmed.net/pharmacology/factors-affecting-absorption-of-drugs/

• http://www.clinchem.org/content/35/7/1337.full.pdf