The pharmacokinetics of intranasal droperidol in healthy volunteers.

The intranasal (IN) route of drug administration has many advantages. It has the potential to eliminate the pain, anxiety, and distress that can be associated with the use of needles for IV or IMI drug delivery. The risk of needle-stick injury and blood-borne infection is also minimized by the use of needleless systems. In addition, drug administration can occur more quickly than intravenous administration as there is no need to spend time siting a cannula and there is reduced resource utilisation. Recent observational research in the ED setting has revealed that more than 50% of inserted intravenous cannulae are never used for therapeutic purposes and pose a significant risk for skin infection and septicaemia if left in-situ. There is currently no data examining the pharmacokinetic profile of intranasal droperidol. However, based upon results with intranasal haloperidol, it is likely that droperidol, having similar pharmacokinetic properties, may display a comparable intranasal absorption profile. Currently, there are no anti-emetics or antipsychotic medications being administered intranasally in the clinical setting. As a result, if the pharmacokinetic profile is favourable, droperidol may be a useful drug to consider for clinical trials of intranasal treatment of acute behavioural disturbance and anti-emesis.