The pharmaceutical research sector is highly interested in oral gastro-retentive dose formulations. The significance of gastro-retentive drug delivery systems (GRDDS) has grown as these systems enhance patient compliance and improve the therapeutic indices of medications. Various technical advancements in the design and production of gastro-retentive dosage forms can overcome physiological limitations, such as short gastric retention time and fluctuations in stomach emptying. Medications with shorter half-lives, instability or poor solubility at alkaline pH, or inadequate absorption in the lower gastrointestinal tract can greatly benefit from GRDDS. To achieve the desired retention period and release pattern, these systems can be developed using a range of innovative methods, including magnetic, bioadhesive, expandable, and floating systems. The use of GRDDS for oral drug administration has significantly increased in recent years, with innovative design strategies—such as the widely used floating drug delivery system—playing a major role. GRDDS offer several advantages, including the ability to provide drugs with a narrow absorption window, improved pharmacological effects, reduced dosing frequency, enhanced bioavailability, and prolonged drug residence in the stomach for local effects such as the treatment of peptic ulcer disease. This study provides a brief introduction to gastro-retentive drug delivery, covering its necessity, advantages, disadvantages, influencing factors, approaches, and applications.

The pharmaceutical research sector is highly interested in oral gastro-retentive dose formulations. The significance of gastro-retentive drug delivery systems (GRDDS) has grown as these systems enhance patient compliance and improve the therapeutic indices of medications. Various technical advancements in the design and production of gastro-retentive dosage forms can overcome physiological limitations, such as short gastric retention time and fluctuations in stomach emptying. Medications with shorter half-lives, instability or poor solubility at alkaline pH, or inadequate absorption in the lower gastrointestinal tract can greatly benefit from GRDDS. To achieve the desired retention period and release pattern, these systems can be developed using a range of innovative methods, including magnetic, bioadhesive, expandable, and floating systems. The use of GRDDS for oral drug administration has significantly increased in recent years, with innovative design strategies—such as the widely used floating drug delivery system—playing a major role. GRDDS offer several advantages, including the ability to provide drugs with a narrow absorption window, improved pharmacological effects, reduced dosing frequency, enhanced bioavailability, and prolonged drug residence in the stomach for local effects such as the treatment of peptic ulcer disease. This study provides a brief introduction to gastro-retentive drug delivery, covering its necessity, advantages, disadvantages, influencing factors, approaches, and applications.

The pharmaceutical research sector is highly interested in oral gastro-retentive dose formulations. The significance of gastro-retentive drug delivery systems (GRDDS) has grown as these systems enhance patient compliance and improve the therapeutic indices of medications. Various technical advancements in the design and production of gastro-retentive dosage forms can overcome physiological limitations, such as short gastric retention time and fluctuations in stomach emptying. Medications with shorter half-lives, instability or poor solubility at alkaline pH, or inadequate absorption in the lower gastrointestinal tract can greatly benefit from GRDDS. To achieve the desired retention period and release pattern, these systems can be developed using a range of innovative methods, including magnetic, bioadhesive, expandable, and floating systems. The use of GRDDS for oral drug administration has significantly increased in recent years, with innovative design strategies—such as the widely used floating drug delivery system—playing a major role. GRDDS offer several advantages, including the ability to provide drugs with a narrow absorption window, improved pharmacological effects, reduced dosing frequency, enhanced bioavailability, and prolonged drug residence in the stomach for local effects such as the treatment of peptic ulcer disease. This study provides a brief introduction to gastro-retentive drug delivery, covering its necessity, advantages, disadvantages, influencing factors, approaches, and applications.

Methods: The study included 60 patients graded American Society of Anesthesiologists I and II and scheduled for thoracolumbar spine surgery involving >3 vertebral levels. The patients were divided into two groups: group KD (ketodex) and group F (fentanyl). The primary objective was to compare the postoperative analgesic requirements among the groups. The secondary objectives included a comparison of the intraoperative anesthetic requirements, postoperative pain scores, hemodynamic parameters, side effects of the study drugs, and the duration of post-anesthesia care unit stay of both the groups. Results: Ketodex use prolonged the mean time to first rescue analgesia (22.00±2.30 hours vs. 11.69±3.02 hours, p <0.001) and reduced the requirement of rescue analgesics in the first 24 hours postoperatively compared to fentanyl use (70.00±8.16 μg vs. 113.31±36.65 μg, p =0.03). The intraoperative requirement of desflurane was comparable between the groups (p >0.05). The postoperative pain scores were significantly lower in the group KD than in group F at most timepoints (p <0.05). Patients in group KD had a shorter post-anesthesia care unit stay than group F did (p <0.001). Conclusions Low-dose ketodex could be a safe substitute for fentanyl infusion when employed as an anesthetic adjuvant for patients undergoing thoracolumbar spine surgeries involving >3 vertebral levels to achieve prolonged analgesia without any opioidrelated side effects.