Podcast 812: PO Medications

<p><strong>Contributor: Nick Tsipis, MD</strong></p> <p><strong>Educational Pearls:</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">PO medications are less frequently used in the ED due to their longer onset of action</span><span style= "font-weight: 400;">       </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The position the patient is in when given PO medications may affect how quickly the medication is absorbed</span></li> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The quicker the medication passes through the stomach into the small intestine, the quicker it can be absorbed and metabolized</span></li> </ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Recent study used</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">in silico</span></em> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">gastric biomechanics model to compare the length of time it took PO medications to pass through the stomach based on the patient’s positioning</span></li> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Compared the medication transit time in a stomach model placed in right lateral, left lateral, upright, and supine positions</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Right lateral positioning resulted in the fastest time for medication to pass through the stomach and enter the duodenum</span></li> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Likely due to the direction of gravity aligning with the antrum and pylorus of the stomach</span></li> </ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Left lateral positioning had the slowest time for the pill to enter the small intestine </span></li> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="3"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Likely due to gravity not aligning with stomach anatomy</span><