To recipes helpdesk

Question

Posted on: April 6 2018

How to prepare cephalexin syrup for a child?

Doctor has contacted us for preparing cephalexin suspension for a child. Have standardized formulas been known for this?

Answer

I have to start by saying that there are no standard formulas for this medicine.

I did found for EE cephalexin 125 mg/5 ml suspension   with following list of excipients:   Sodium benzoate (E211);   Disodium Edetate;   Citric Acid (Anhydrous);     Sodium Citrate;   Sorbitol Powder;   Saccharin Sodium;   Trusil Strawberry Powder Flavour;   Colloidal Silicon Dioxide; mono ammonium Glycerrhyzinate; Erythrosine (E127)   Xanthan Gum

Keforal tablets provide you with the raw material. Of course you will have to crush those Keforal tablets and make them fine. A problem can be caused by the coating,   which is an elastic material and does not make itself easily fine. For such machining I usually make use of an electric coffee grinder and the powder, which one obtains, is sieved on a sieve of the nature of a sugar or flour sieve, which is used in the kitchen. Under the rest that is left on the sieve, you can distinguish the film particles and take them out. Powder that is left on the sieve should be further ground.  

If I have the composition overflow of Keforal tablets I find PVP back and I assume that this will not be a large amount so that the influence of this polymer on the viscosity of the suspension will not be drastic.  

I give a possible composition for the supension, which you are asked to prepare for a quantity of 100 ml suspension. I base myself on the data, which you send me for Keforal syrup.  

R/cefalexine   5 g  ; xanthan gum 300 mg; HPMC 500 mg; Na2HPO4 800 mg; Nipagine 180 mg; Nipasol 50 mg; Na2EDTA 100 mg; Aroma (banana?) 500 mg (?), sorbitol   63 g and water up to 100 ml  

This composition is based on data, which I found in a publication but in which one could go out of cephalexin powder.   I can hardly speak about the viscosity of the whole. Perhaps it is too high to make the suspension difficult to manoeuvre; Therefore, I would start by adding only 33 g of sorbitol   and assessing the viscosity of the finished whole together with the stir-bareness of the suspension. Perhaps 33 g   more than sufficient. It should also be taken into account that when making this composition, starting from Keforal tablets, you will also bring the tablet fillers. If the amount of sorbitol is reduced, some additional sweetener may need to be added: 30 mg (?)   Nasaccharinate.