Development and Characterization of Fast-Dissolving Tablets for the Combination Therapy of Ketorolac and Rizatriptan Benzoate

Background and Objective

Fast-dissolving tablets (FDTs) are uncoated tablets designed to disperse quickly in the mouth before swallowing. This study aimed to formulate and evaluate a combination of ketorolac and rizatriptan as fast-dissolving tablets for migraine treatment. The effects of different diluents and super disintegrants on wetting time, water absorption ratio, disintegration, and dissolution time were investigated using the direct compression technique.

Method

Pre-formulation studies ruled out physicochemical interactions between the drugs and excipients. Four formulations were developed with varying diluents and super disintegrants. The tablets were evaluated for organoleptic properties, weight variation, thickness, friability, hardness, disintegration time, wetting time, water absorption ratio, and stability.

Result

FT-IR analysis confirmed no interactions between the drugs and excipients. The optimized formula, F4, containing 2.5% crospovidone and 2.5% Kyron T-134, showed the best performance. It exhibited rapid drug release, with most active ingredients released within five minutes. F4 had the shortest wetting time, the fastest disintegration time (10 s), a strong stability profile, and an improved taste with strawberry flavoring.

Conclusion

A combination of Kyron T-134 and crospovidone in a 1:1 ratio provided rapid disintegration. Thus, ketorolac tromethamine and rizatriptan benzoate can be formulated as fast-dissolving tablets using direct compression, improving patient compliance in migraine treatment.