Editor-in-Chief Hatice Kübra Elçioğlu Vice Editors Levent Kabasakal Esra Tatar Online ISSN 2630-6344 Publisher Marmara University Frequency Bimonthly (Six issues / year) Abbreviation J.Res.Pharm. Former Name Marmara Pharmaceutical Journal
Marmara Pharmaceutical Journal 2010 , Vol 14 , Issue 3
The evaluation of the nitroglycerin ointments compounded in community pharmacies in Turkey in terms of active ingredient content and dispensing properties
Hakan Ergün1, Barkın Berk2, Mehmet Uludağ3, İrem Diler3, Dilek Demir Erol2, Bülent Gümüşel4
1 Ankara Ünivesitesi, Tıp Fakültesi Tıbbi Farmakoloji ABD, Ankara, Türkiye
2 Yeditepe Üniversitesi, Eczacılık Fakültesi, İstanbul, Türkiye
3 Yeditepe Sağlık Hizmetleri, İstanbul, Türkiye
4 Hacettepe Üniversitesi, Eczacılık Fakültesi Farmakoloji ABD, Ankara, Türkiye
DOI : 10.12991/201014448 Compounded drugs in pharmacies constitute negligible rate in the whole drug utilization. However, compounded drugs sometimes do not meet required standards and unfortunately their pharmaceutical specifications are not regularly controlled. In the present study, the amount of nitroglycerin active ingredient was measured in 23 nitroglycerin (0.4%) ointment samples prepared in 23 community pharmacies. In addition to the ingredient, the packaging and labeling were also evaluated.

Our findings showed that 0.4% nitroglycerin ointment was prepared in only 4% of the pharmacies admitted. None of the compounded drugs met the acceptable (0.36-0.44%) range for 0.4% nitroglycerin content. Furthermore, nine of them were below the measurable value (<0.008%). The highest concentration of the compounded drugs was found 0.24%. Only three samples met the required active ingredient amount in terms of nitroglycerin and all of them were the pharmaceutical preparations of Rectogesic® with different serial numbers. Moreover, preparations compounded in the pharmacies lacked a proper packaging and labeling. We may conclude that there is a difficulty in accessing the above mentioned medication since the ointment was available in only 4% of the pharmacies and none of the preparations contained enough active ingredient. Only a few had proper package and adequate labeling. It seems that a regular auditing needs to be conducted for compounded drugs in the pharmacies. Keywords : Pharmacy, pharmacist, compounding, nitroglycerin ointment

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