Chapter 15 Methods of administration
• Enteral: administered through the gastrointestinal tract, including the mucosa of the mouth, stomach, small intestine, colon and rectum.
Enteral Administration
• Advantages
• Ease of administration: patients are used to ingesting food, so this form of administration is generally acceptable.
• Ease of absorption: in many places, the lining of the digestive tract is only one cell thick and moist, which is ideal for absorption.
• Large surface area for absorption: the gastrointestinal tract is very long, which allows substances to be absorbed over a long period of time.
Administration via the Rectum
This is a possible method of delivering herbal remedies.
• Advantages
• Common way to getting anti-inflammatories into the body as it bypasses the gut and therefore any irritation of the gut lining. It can also be used for drugs that can produce nausea if taken orally.