Stability studies of binary and ternary mixtures containing morphine, midazolam, levomepromazine and hyoscine butylbromide for parenteral administration.
OBJECTIVE
[corrected] Parenteral (intravenous or subcutaneous) administration is routinely used in palliative medicine because patients are not able to take drugs orally. To avoid excessive injections, several drugs are usually given in the same dose, but the stability of these drugs when mixed is not always known. The aim of this study was to evaluate the stability of several mixtures of drugs (morphine, midazolam, levomepromazine and hyoscine butylbromide) kept under different storage conditions.


METHODS
Stability was evaluated on the basis of percentage of drug remaining, pH, change of colour and gas or precipitate formation.


RESULTS
The most notable results of the study showed that levomepromazine is rapidly degraded in 0.9% NaCl in all cases, and at high concentrations, morphine can precipitate when stored at 4°C.


CONCLUSIONS
Mixtures containing levomepromazine are rapidly degraded under experimental conditions.
Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics Unit, SCIAS Hospital, Barcelona, Spain. franfernandez@ub.edu
Francisco
F
Fernandez-Campos
Mireia
M
Mallandrich
Ana C
AC
Calpena
Ana
A
Ayestarán
Carmen
C
Lacasa
D002086:Butylscopolammonium Bromide / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004355:Drug Stability; D004356:Drug Storage; D007263:Infusions, Parenteral / Q000379:methods; D008728:Methotrimeprazine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D008874:Midazolam / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D009020:Morphine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods
D004338:Drug Combinations; D002086:Butylscopolammonium Bromide; D009020:Morphine; D008728:Methotrimeprazine; D008874:Midazolam