From the Guidelines
The scopolamine patch should be placed behind the ear, specifically on the postauricular area.
Key Considerations
- The patch typically contains 1.5mg of scopolamine and is designed to release the medication over a 3-day period 1.
- It is essential to apply the patch to clean, dry skin and avoid touching the adhesive surface to ensure optimal absorption and efficacy.
- The recommended dose is one patch applied every 3 days as needed.
- The onset of benefit for transdermal scopolamine patches is about 12 hours, and they are thus not an appropriate choice for imminently dying patients 1.
- A subcutaneous injection of scopolamine can be administered when the patch is applied or if management of secretions is inadequate 1.
From the FDA Drug Label
To help prevent nausea and vomiting from motion sickness: • Apply one scopolamine transdermal system to your skin on a hairless area behind one ear at least 4 hours before the activity to prevent nausea and vomiting.
1 Select a hairless area of skin behind one of your ears. Avoid areas on your skin that may have cuts, pain or tenderness. 5. Apply the adhesive surface of scopolamine transdermal system firmly to the dry area of skin behind your ear
The scopolamine (hyoscine) patch should be placed on a hairless area behind one ear. When the treatment is needed for longer than 3 days, the patch should be removed and a new one placed on the hairless area behind the other ear 2.
From the Research
Placement of Scopolamine Patch
- The scopolamine (hyoscine) patch should be applied to the postauricular area, which is behind the ear 3.
- The patch should be applied at least 6-8 hours before the anti-motion sickness effect is required 3, 4.
- For faster protection, the patch may be applied 1 hour before the journey in combination with oral scopolamine (0.3 or 0.6 mg) 3.
- After 72 hours, the patch should be removed and a new one applied behind the opposite ear 3.
Important Considerations
- The patch contains a reservoir of 1.5 mg of scopolamine programmed to deliver 0.5 mg over a 3-day period 3.
- A priming dose (140 microg) is incorporated into the adhesive layer to saturate certain binding sites within the skin and to accelerate the achievement of steady-state blood levels 3.
- The protective plasma concentration of scopolamine is estimated to be 50 pg/mL, which is attained after 6 hours of application 3.