What is the difference between oral and injectable drugs? Which type is better?

1.1 Characteristics of oral drugs Slower effect than injections Less likely to cause complications related to infusion Convenient, easy to use. Patients can self-medicate at home There are a number of drugs when taken at the same time can interact to reduce absorption. Therefore, these drugs should not be taken at the same time, but need to wait a certain period of time (1-2 hours depending on the type of drug). Oral drugs may not be suitable for patients with severe vomiting, Injury to the digestive mucosa, malabsorption syndrome, ... For patients who are comatose or unable to eat or drink normally, they can be given drugs through a tube. Usually, injections are more expensive than oral medications. Tablets, capsules, capsules, ... can be easily found in drugstores nationwide. 1.2 Characteristics of injections An injectable drug has a rapid onset of action, often used in emergency situations requiring rapid action. For infections, parenteral antibiotics are often indicated when the patient has a severe infection, a deep infection site, or is intolerant to oral antibiotics. There are a number of drugs that can only be made in the form of injections but not oral form, because of poor absorption from the gastrointestinal tract, easily destroyed by gastric juice. Injectable drugs are useful in cases where the patient cannot drink such as excessive vomiting, digestive problems causing malabsorption, uncooperative patients, etc. Injections can cause some complications. when injecting drugs such as pain, thrombosis, abscess, phlebitis, infection, anaphylaxis, incorrect injection causing tissue necrosis (CaCl2),... Patients often cannot self-administer the injection at home (CaCl2). except for some drugs such as insulin injections) that must go to a medical facility, be administered medication and monitored by medical staff.

When the doctor decides to give the patient oral or injectable drugs (intramuscular, subcutaneous or slow intravenous injection, drip injection) will completely depend on the purpose of treatment, the actual condition of the patient. disease as well as consider the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic factors of that drug. The requirement when using drugs is to choose a suitable drug that is capable of achieving sufficient concentrations at the site of action to promote its effectiveness. On the other hand, the drug does not cause many dangerous side effects, is easy to use, has a pleasant taste when taking or when injected, causes little pain and has the most reasonable price.
The drug has many different dosage forms for doctors to choose suitable for each disease level, disease condition, and needs to be most convenient for patients, especially the elderly and children. In terms of pharmacokinetics, when any drug is introduced into the body, the drug also needs a certain time to be absorbed into the bloodstream and then take effect, then it will be eliminated by different ways from the body. body. Drugs administered by injection will quickly reach high concentrations in the blood and in the site of action, which means they will work quickly. However, injections can also be quickly eliminated from the body. For example, when using intravenous ampicillin antibiotics, after 2-3 minutes, the drug will reach the maximum concentration in the blood and will be eliminated from the body after 5 hours, so it must be injected at least 4 times/ days to keep the appropriate drug concentration to have the effect of treating infections. If injected intramuscularly, it will take 45 - 60 minutes to have the maximum concentration needed and will be eliminated from the body after 7-8 hours, so it requires intramuscular injection at least 3 times per day to be effective.
As such, there can be no definitive answer as to whether injections or oral medications are better. The choice of drug form will depend on the disease condition, patient characteristics, cost and many other factors. In fact, intravenous drugs are often used in cases of absorption disorders in the gastrointestinal tract, patients with frequent regurgitation, severe infections (septicemia with shock, bacteremia caused by meningococcal disease). .. ). In the vast majority of other conditions, it can be taken orally in appropriate doses to achieve a therapeutic effect. In addition, taking oral drugs also avoids pain for patients, especially children, has fewer side effects and complications than injectable forms, is easy to use, readily available and reasonably priced.
In short, injectable or oral drugs have different advantages and disadvantages. The choice of the appropriate form of drug will depend on the condition of the disease, patient characteristics, cost and a number of other factors. Patients need to strictly follow the doctor's prescription to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the drug.
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