The sustained release formulation refers to a formulation which slowly releases the drug at a non-steady rate as required in a prescribed release medium after oral administration. Such formulations can be divided into sustained release capsules and sustained release tablets. Sustained-release capsules are a kind of medicine whose main function is to delay the release, absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of drugs in the body, so as to achieve a kind of  formulation for prolonging the action of drugs. Compared with the corresponding common formulations, the frequency of drug delivery is reduced, the patient's compliance can be significantly increased, and the side effects of the medicine can be reduced.

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Compared to general formulations, sustained release formulations have three advantages:

  1. Easy to take. Conventional formulations usually deliver drugs several times a day, while sustained release formulations are usually needed only 1-2 times a day.
  2. The delivery time of sustained release drug is slower than the general formulation, avoiding the uncertain blood drug concentration due to the excessive fluctuation of the blood drug concentration after the frequent drug delivery of the general formulation.
  3. The side effects are smaller than the general formulations.

Precautions for take:

  • When taking a sustained-release tablet or capsule, it should be swallowed with water. It is strictly forbidden to chew or crush it.
  • The structure of the oral sustained-release tablet determines that it cannot be taken apart. The sustained release film is broken after the sustained release film is released, and the drug release characteristics are changed, thus the drug is quickly released from the fracture. This will not achieve the purpose of sustained release, and may cause drug poisoning due to the sudden increase in drug concentration in the body.
  • Oral sustained-release capsules cannot be used for splitting because the pellets in the capsule shell are combined by several different release rate pellets, some of which are uncoated ordinary granules, some are coated granules, and others are slow-release pellets. A combination of multiple units makes the capsule achieve the desired blood concentration, maintaining a longer duration of action, and reducing adverse reactions.