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  • ‘To crush or not to crush, that is the question!’ An algorithm can help with the proper administration of solid oral medicines in patients where the oral route is compromised

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‘To crush or not to crush, that is the question!’ An algorithm can help with the proper administration of solid oral medicines in patients where the oral route is compromised
  1. Nicolas Sagaria1,
  2. Daniele Mengato2
  1. 1 Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Veneto, Italy
  2. 2 Hospital Pharmacy Department, Bolzano Hospital, Bolzano, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy
  1. Correspondence to Dr Daniele Mengato, Hospital Pharmacy Department, Bolzano Hospital, Bolzano, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy; daniele.mengato{at}gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.1136/ejhpharm-2021-002928

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    Dysphagia occurs in any age group although it is more common among elderly people. An ageing population is associated with the risk of an increasing incidence of dysphagic patients for whom it is necessary to implement a medication review that includes a careful evaluation of pharmaceutical forms. Dysphagia can severely undermine nutrition, impair quality of life, and affect patients’ ability to take solid oral dosage forms, thus compromising medication adherence.1

    When therapeutic alternatives other than solid oral pharmaceutical forms do not exist, tablet crushing becomes an option to be seriously investigated. This action may seem a futile act, too often delegated to the nursing staff without …

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors The authors contributed equally to the work.

    • Funding None.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.