[Osmolality of oral liquid dosage forms to be administered to newborns in a hospital].

OBJECTIVE Oral administration of hypertonic solutions can contribute to intestinal damage in the initial stages of neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis. The purpose of this study is to determine the osmolality of oral liquid dosage forms used in a division of neonatology and to establish some recommendations for their dilution. METHOD The osmolality of 26 oral liquid dosage forms has been measured using the freezing-point depression method. RESULTS Oral liquid dosage forms used in the division of neonatology present an osmolality greater than 350 mOsm/kg H2O. 19.2% of all the analysed forms presented an osmolality lower than 1500 mOsm/kg H2O, 80.7% were over that figure, while 23% presented an extremely high osmolality (> 5,000 mOsm/kg H2O). CONCLUSIONS Knowledge of osmolality of oral liquid dosage forms in the division of neonatology enables the risk of intestinal aggression caused by enteral administration of the medication to be assessed.