[Crushing or opening medication: what practices, what risks?]

Camille Castel; Pascale Lescure; Sophie Le Soudier; Hanan Lemkarane; Emmanuelle Renaud; Laurence Thomas-Bacheley; Guillaume Saint-Lorant

doi:10.1016/j.revinf.2018.01.009

[Crushing or opening medication: what practices, what risks?]

Rev Infirm. 2018 Mar;67(239):35-37. doi: 10.1016/j.revinf.2018.01.009.

[Article in French]

Authors

Camille Castel¹, Pascale Lescure², Sophie Le Soudier³, Hanan Lemkarane³, Emmanuelle Renaud², Laurence Thomas-Bacheley², Guillaume Saint-Lorant³

Affiliations

¹ Service de pharmacie, CHU de Caen, 14033 Caen Cedex, France. Electronic address: camille.castel@outlook.com.
² Service de gériatrie, département EHPAD-USLD, CHU de Caen, 14033 Caen Cedex, France.
³ Service de pharmacie, CHU de Caen, 14033 Caen Cedex, France.

PMID: 29525013
DOI: 10.1016/j.revinf.2018.01.009

Abstract

The practice of crushing tablets or opening up capsules to be taken orally, when it is not prescribed, can affect the efficacy of a treatment, or even cause an adverse event. A survey carried out in 2016 revealed that this is a common practice, especially among elderly people. However, alternative forms exist and can be prescribed.

Keywords: administration; crushed medicine; drug iatrogenesis; elderly person; iatrogénie médicamenteuse; médicament écrasé; personne âgée.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Administration, Oral
Capsules / administration & dosage*
Capsules / adverse effects
Deglutition Disorders / drug therapy
Deglutition Disorders / nursing*
Humans
Iatrogenic Disease / prevention & control
Practice Patterns, Nurses'* / standards
Risk Factors

Substances

Capsules