- povidone
- A synthetic polymer consisting mainly of linear 1-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone groups, with mean molecular weights ranging from 10,000 to 70,000; used as a dispersing and suspending agent; p. with molecular weight between 20,000 and 40,000 has been used as a plasma extender. It is not metabolized, but is excreted unchanged by the kidney. SYN: polyvidone, polyvinylpyrrolidone.
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po·vi·done (poґvĭ-dōn) [USP] a synthetic polymer principally consisting of linear 1-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone groups, produced as a series of products having mean molecular weights ranging from about 10,000 to about 700,000; used as a dispersing and suspending agent, and has been used as a tablet binder, coating agent, and viscosity-increasing agent in pharmaceutical preparations. Formerly called polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). See also povidone-iodine.
Medical dictionary. 2011.
