The present study indicated poor adherence to the SAP guidelines. The timing of administration of SAP was not appropriate in two-thirds of the patients and more than half received more than three doses of SAP inappropriately. Continuing medical education should target antimicrobial prophylaxis (selection, timing and duration), clinical pharmacy antibiotic services and cyclic auditing.

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The partitioning of six phenothiazines was determined between phosphate buffer (pH 6.0) and the lipid phases of cyclohexane, n-octanol and dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine (DMPC). For DMPC liposomes studies were carried out both below and above the phase transition temperature (Tc) of the liposomes. The partitioning of chlorpromazine hydrochloride between n-octanol and phosphate buffer was both pH and concentration-dependent. A linear relationship between the absolute temperature (T(-1)) and the logarithm of the equilibrium partition coefficient (ln K) was derived. The temperature dependence of the partition coefficient (K) over the temperature range 20-40° C in cyclohexane and n-octanol, and 5-40° C in DMPC liposomes, permitted the calculation of free-energy (G), enthalpy (H) and the entropy (S) of partitioning. Both the entropy and the enthalpy of partitioning of phenothiazines were positive in the three systems studied. In general, the partitioning of phenothiazines in cyclohexane, n-octanol and DMPC liposomes (both above and below the phase transition temperature (Tc)) is entropically controlled. Correlation was not however found between the free-energy of oil-water partitioning and liposome-water partitioning which may be attributed to the formation of surface associated phenothiazine in high concentrations at the liposome water interface. The concentration dependent partitioning of chlorpromazine in DMPC liposomes may be attributed to the adsorbed fraction of drug.

A well designed controlled drug delivery system can provide a therapeutic amount of drug to the proper site in the body and then maintain the desired drug concentration for the specific period of time.A number of approaches are available in delivering therapeutic substance to the target site in sustained and controlled release fashion.One such approach is using magnetic microspheres as carriers for drugs. Microsphere drug delivery system has gained vast attention due to its diverse applications that range from targeting the drug to specific site to imaging and helping the diagnostic features. One of its important application is that it is used for targeting tumors using anticancer drugs. Being more stable, it has an advantage over other delivery systems like liposomes. The main objectives of this review is to highlight some important aspects of magnetic microspheres as a novel drug delivery system. The review shall cover definitions, concepts, types, mechanism of targeting, evaluation and characteristics of magnetic microspheres as well as various methods and techniques used in their preparations. The review also entails various applications and future prospects of magnetic microspheres.

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