International journal of pharmaceutics
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Comparative Study
Surface active drugs significantly alter the drug output rate from medical nebulizers.
Surface tension of aqueous solutions has a great impact on the resulting size of the produced aerosol droplets. Nevertheless, little attention has been drawn so far to the drug output of surface active substances during nebulization. ⋯ Following conclusions for an efficient nebulization delivery of drugs with surface activity with respect to optimal delivery device can be made. Generally, ultrasonic devices produce higher drug output rates within shorter periods of time as compared to jet and vibrating membrane nebulizers. Accordingly, prescription instructions have to be adjusted to these findings. The study also emphasizes that aqueous nebulizer solutions should preferably be prescribed in conjunction with a specific nebulizer which has been tested in vitro and been used in in vivo studies, rather than to let patients choose their delivery device themselves.