Method of Administering Powdered Medicines to Infants: Investigation of Optimal Water Amounts for Achieving a Paste State in Powdered Medicines

A general method of administering powdered medicines to infants is to add a spoonful of water to the powder to make a paste and then making the paste into small dumpling-sized balls. We investigated the optimal amount of water for making a paste for 35 kinds of powdered medicine which included fine granules, granules and dry syrups. The optimal water amount was expressed as an amount per gram of powder. Approximately 80% of the powders examined in this study required 0.2-0.4 mL of water per gram of powder to make a paste that would form small balls. Optimal water amounts were calculated for amounts of powder ranging between 0.1 and 1.5 grams by proportion and when the calculated amounts of water were added, small dumpling sized balls could be formed. In the same way, we also calculated amounts of water required for powdered mixtures of several medicines for 6 prescriptions often prescribed in our pharmacy from corrected standard volumes for each medicine in the mixture. The amounts of water added on this basis achieved the required paste state for all of the powder mixtures used. These results suggest that the optimal water amount for powdered medicines of various weights can be estimated from standard volumes of water by proportion. Thus, optimal water amounts determined by our method may be useful for the administration of mixed powdered medicines to infants.