Question

MD order: 250 mg of a medication in 500 mL D5W

Instructions: infuse medication at 10 mcg/kg/min

Drop factor : 15 gtts/mL

Clients weight : 140 lbs

Calculate the flow rate ?

*Show the solution - step by step

Answer 1

Given order is 250 mg medication in 500 mL D5W.

which means 1 mg (1000mcg) medication in 2mL ( 2000 mcL)  D5W.

weight of client is 140 pounds

which is 63.5 kgs approximately

Required dosage is 10 mcg/kg/min.

Required dosage for 63.5 kg client is 10 * 63.5

which is 635 mcg/min.

As 1000 mcg medicine is present in 2000 mcL,

635 mcg medicine is present in 1270 mcL or 1.27 ml.

The required infusion rate per minute is 1.27 mL of D5W.

drop factor is 15gtts/ml which means 15 drops / ml

If for 1 ml it’s 15 drops, then for 1.27 ml it is = (15*1.27)/1

which is 19 drops approximately.

So the required flow rate is 1.27 mL/min which is 19 drops per minute.

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