Drug Elimination

The elimination of drugs from the body involves the processes of metabolism and excretion. A link to the Liver and drug metabolism RLO can be found in the further resources section at the end of this resource.

This tutorial explains how drugs are excreted from the body. Excretion is the removal of waste substances from body fluids, and predominantly occurs via urine formed in the kidneys. Other routes of excretion from the body can include in bile, saliva, sweat, tears, faeces, milk and exhaled air.

Most drugs are metabolised first prior to being excreted. However, some drugs, such as aminoglycoside antibiotics are polar compounds and are excreted by the kidneys without being metabolised first.