Purpose of Enteric-Coated Tablets

Enteric-coated tablets are oral medications that have a polymer coating. This coating helps prevent stomach problems associated with pain medications like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

Enteric-coating also helps prevent your stomach acids from making certain medications ineffective.

This article discusses enteric coatings on medications like NSAIDs and what their purpose is.

What Are Enteric-Coated Tablets?

Enteric-coated tablets are coated with a polymer coating, often a derivative of cellulose or acrylic acid. The specific coating is chosen based on how and if it breaks down in different pH environments.

Your stomach is very acidic, with a pH of between 1.5 and 2.0. The first part of your small intestine has a pH of around 6, which is much less acidic than your stomach.

Some medications won't work if they break down in an acidic environment. The purpose of the enteric coating is to protect the medication until it moves into your small intestine. This helps maximize its absorption and increase its effectiveness.

For some medications, the enteric coating also helps protect your stomach from becoming irritated and damaged by the medication itself.

Preventing Stomach Ulcers

When you take NSAIDs, an enteric coating helps protect your stomach from irritation. Examples of NSAIDs include:

• Advil (ibuprofen)
• Aleve (naproxen sodium)
• Bayer (aspirin)
• Zorvolex (diclofenac)
• Meloxicam
• Celebrex (celecoxib)

NSAIDs are helpful for treating pain and conditions like musculoskeletal disorders and arthritis, but this class of medication is also associated with ulcers and other upper GI tract injuries. Along with these gastrointestinal problems, complications including hemorrhage and perforation often occur. 

One way the pharmaceutical industry addresses this potential complication is by coating the pills. Enteric-coated pain medication is coated with special ingredients that prevent irritation of the stomach lining. These pills usually come in tablet or capsule form.

Enteric-coated drugs do their work by keeping the drug's active ingredient from releasing until it has gone all the way through the stomach and arrives in the small intestine. The word "enteric" means "relating to the intestine."

Increasing Medication Effectiveness

An enteric coating can also help prevent your stomach acids from degrading your medication and making it ineffective.

Examples of medications that can be made ineffective by stomach acid include:

• Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) like Prilosec (omeprazole)
• Certain antibiotics such as EryPed (erythromycin)
• Pancreaze (pancrelipase), a medication used to replace enzymes normally produced by the pancreas
• Entocort EC (budesonide), a corticosteroid sometimes used to treat Crohn's disease
  

How to Take Enteric-Coated Tablets

Enteric-coated pills are designed to dissolve in your digestive system and should not be cut in half, chewed, crushed, or dissolved before you take them.

Cutting, crushing, or breaking an enteric-coated medication before taking it negates its protective effect and exposes the stomach to potential irritation. Crushing or breaking an enteric-coated medication may lead to serious side effects, may prevent the medication from working properly, and may slow down your recovery rate.

Always read the patient information leaflet or check with your pharmacist to see if it is safe to crush your tablets or open your capsules. If your needs have changed and you are finding it difficult to swallow tablets or capsules, then contact your physician, who will prescribe your medication in another form that is easier for you to take.

Summary

Enteric-coated tablets are covered with a polymer coating that helps protect your stomach from irritation. Enteric coatings are also used to ensure that certain medications aren't damaged by your stomach acid.

Drugs like NSAIDs are often enteric-coated to help prevent stomach ulcers and other gastrointestinal side effects. Certain drugs are also enteric-coated so they can be absorbed in the small intestine instead of the stomach.

You shouldn't cut, crush, or chew enteric-coated medication. Ask your pharmacist or healthcare provider about the best way to take these drugs.