Rivaroxaban crushed tablet suspension characteristics and relative bioavailability in healthy adults when administered orally or via nasogastric tube.

Purpose: Because some patients have difficulty swallowing a whole tablet, we investigated the relative bioavailability of a crushed 20 mg rivaroxaban tablet and of 2 alternative crushed tablet dosing strategies.

Methods: Stability and nasogastric (NG) tube adsorption characteristics of a crushed rivaroxaban tablet were assessed. Then, in 55 healthy adults, relative bioavailability of rivaroxaban administered orally as a whole tablet (Reference [Whole-Oral]), crushed tablet in applesauce suspension (Crushed-Oral), or crushed tablet in water suspension via NG tube (Crushed-NG) were determined.

Results: There were no significant changes in mean percent of non-degraded rivaroxaban recovered over 4 hours from crushed tablet suspensions (>98.4% recovery across all suspensions and time points) or after NG tube exposure (recovery: 99.1% for silicone and 98.9% for polyvinyl chloride NG tubes). Relative bioavailability was similar between Crushed-Oral and Reference dosing (Cmax and AUC∞ were within the 80-125% bioequivalence limits). Relative bioavailability was also similar between the Crushed-NG and Reference dosing (AUC∞ was within bioequivalence limits; Cmax [90% CI range: 78.5-85.8%] was only slightly below the 80% lower bioequivalence limit).

Conclusions: A crushed rivaroxaban tablet was stable and when administered orally or via NG tube, displayed similar relative bioavailability compared to a whole tablet administered orally.