pradaxa question

[shaunamarslan]

So i understand pradaxa is non crushable but my question is for patients who have difficulty swallowing whole pills is it ok to open the capsule and have them swallow it with apple sauce if they are not biting down on the litlle "balls". I think it is a wonderful medication especially for those who are unable to take coumadin/ don't want to deal with the blood work involved with coumadin therapy but am curious to know if the med is safe to be administered this way. thanks!

[Jenni811, RN]

Does anyone know about gabapentin? I was administering it once to a patient who couldn't swallow, he had a G tube so i would have been able to get it in via G tube. When i looked it up on our Medication resource guideline provided by hospital, it said NOT to open the tabs as it can cause too much of the medication to be administered at one time. Other people i noticed had been opening them and putting them in the G tube before i did. So it HAS been done to this patient, and his family claims that they do it at home.

anyway, i called pharmacy to verify this despite it saying it cannot be done. Pharmacist said it should be fine.

Anyone have experience with this one?

[maelstrom143]

thank you for that insight maelstrom... thats what I was looking for

You're welcome :)

[obrndoinparentcare]

I am helping care for my elderly father in home. He takes most meds via gastric tube, only very small capsules PO with applesauce as he is on thickened liquids, soft mechanical diet. I haven't found an efficient way to deliver his Pradaxa. Capsule is too large to put down tube whole. Once opened, the little spheres clog the tube or eventually dissolve into clumps in syringe. I would so appreciate any suggestions on best way to deliver this med.

thanks

[neuron]

Some pharmacies send a recommendation brocure with their medication. I've read the brocure and from what I remember it says to not open the capsule or chew the beads.

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

our pharmacist said it was ok to open gabapentin. I know it has a fairly short half life.

Sounds like pradaxa may not be the best choice for that elderly pt who might not be able to take pills/capsules whole.

I wonder if xaralto would be better- its such a tiny pill.

Actually all the new ac's scare me in the elderly d/t incr. risk of GIB, but what are youu gonna do.

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

Gabapentin does come in a liquid form. It must be refrigerated.

[wanderlustnurse88, RN]

I would say xaralto or Apixaban would be better alternatives that can be crushed.

[Tenebrae, BSN, RN]

I had this situation with a patient who was unable to swallow the capsule. Our pharmacist said as long as we werent crushing the beads while it wasnt optimal it was ok