Table 5.

Effect of loading method and drug physicochemical properties on the mechanical properties. Values in brackets indicate the standard deviation from reported mean (n = 3; * Significantly different from corresponding unmedicated hydrogels; p < 0.05).

Sample	Drug concentration (% w/w)	Tensile strength (MPa)	Percentage elongation (%)	Young’s modulus (MPa)
					Unmedicated	-	1.25 (±0.05)	19.84 (±2.75)	7.87 (±0.30)
Unmedicated (EtOH)	-	1.21 (±0.13)	19.86 (±2.94)	7.61 (±0.11)
Post-loaded LID	1.18	1.20 (±0.09)	20.23 (±2.03)	7.41 (±0.53)
	3.64	1.25 (±0.08)	20.05 (±2.42)	7.79 (±0.58)
	6.31	1.31 (±0.11)	21.75 (±1.79)	7.52 (±0.46)
	9.75	1.32 (±0.07)	22.64 (±1.44)	7.28 (±0.47)
Post-loaded DIC	3.28	1.20 (±0.07)	20.49 (±1.09)	7.31 (±0.51)
	8.39	1.15 (±0.11)	21.27 (±1.89)	6.75 (±0.59) *
	13.62	1.12 (±0.10)	22.39 (±2.36)	6.24 (±0.42) *
	20.68	1.08 (±0.11) *	22.74 (±1.96)	5.93 (±0.21) *
Post-loaded IBU	15.44	1.20 (±0.08)	20.12 (±1.01)	7.45 (±0.48)
	31.01	1.19 (±0.05)	21.87 (±2.10)	6.80 (±0.55) *
	45.48	1.17 (±0.05)	22.36 (±2.42)	6.54 (±0.57) *
	59.09	1.15 (±0.03)	23.95 (±2.97)	6.00 (±0.71) *
In situ Loaded LID	1.12	1.14 (± 0.14)	22.18 (±2.61)	6.42 (±0.24) *
	3.57	0.82 (±0.02) *	26.37 (±2.70) *	3.88 (±0.16) *
	6.3	0.56 (±0.03) *	32.53 (±3.28) *	2.15 (±0.25) *
	9.93	0.50 (±0.04) *	40.01 (±3.05) *	1.56 (±0.18) *
In situ Loaded DIC	3.17	0.19 (±0.03) *	24.13 (±3.49) *	0.98 (±0.04) *
	8.37	0.14 (±0.02) *	35.30 (±5.60) *	0.50 (±0.03) *
	13.12	0.10 (±0.02) *	43.39 (±8.39) *	0.29 (±0.04) *
	20.26	0.05 (±0.02) *	54.68 (±7.80) *	0.11 (±0.04) *