no active ingredients: clinical use

Prescribing considerations

• Confirm the exact product, composition and route because these formulations are clinically unrelated.
• Explain emollient fire safety and assess smoking, oxygen, open-flame and fabric-contamination risks.
• Consider cumulative benzyl alcohol exposure in pregnancy, breastfeeding, paediatric patients, and renal or hepatic impairment.

Contraindications and cautions

• Bacteriostatic Water: hypersensitivity to benzyl alcohol.
• Simple Eye Ointment: hypersensitivity to any component; contact lenses must not be worn during use.
• Unguentum M: avoid where a listed excipient previously caused hypersensitivity or contact dermatitis.

Monitoring

• Review persistent skin irritation, contact dermatitis or inadequate symptom control.
• Investigate worsening ocular pain, redness, discharge or visual disturbance.
• When benzyl alcohol exposure is clinically relevant, consider cumulative exposure and signs of metabolic toxicity.

Clinical pharmacology

These products act physically through skin occlusion and hydration, ocular lubrication, or solvent action during reconstitution. Benzyl alcohol is a preservative with clinically relevant toxicity considerations.

Formulation and product differences

• Unguentum M is a water-miscible, lipid-rich skin cream containing paraffins, propylene glycol, cetostearyl alcohol and sorbic acid.
• Simple Eye Ointment is a sterile ocular preparation containing yellow soft paraffin, liquid paraffin and lanolin.
• Bacteriostatic Water is a sterile solvent containing water for injection and benzyl alcohol; it is not interchangeable with preservative-free water for injection.