Formula sheets, the key method steps for every topic and 6 practice problems, with full solutions at the back.
A patient is starting lisinopril. Which rare but serious adverse effect should the nurse teach the patient to report immediately?
A patient on digoxin and furosemide develops nausea, visual disturbances and an irregular pulse. Which electrolyte disturbance most likely made digoxin toxicity more likely?
A patient weighing 63 kg has a body surface area of 1.48 m². The prescription is 250 mg/m². Find the dose D in mg.
The prescription is 215 micrograms. The ampoule contains 0.5 mg/mL. Draw up the dose in the 1 mL syringe: what volume V do you give?
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A patient receives an IV bolus of 240 mg of gentamicin. The level back-extrapolated to time zero is 10 mg/L and the half-life is 3.5 h. Find the clearance CL in L/h.
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A patient's tobramycin half-life is 4 h. The target is a peak of 7 mg/L and a trough of 1 mg/L. Assuming rapid IV doses and first-order elimination, what dosing interval τ lets the level fall from the peak to the trough? Round to one decimal place.
Answer: A · Swelling of the lips, tongue or face
ACE inhibitors can cause angioedema, which can obstruct the airway and needs emergency care. It is linked to raised bradykinin levels and can occur even after long use.
Answer: D · Hypokalaemia
Digoxin binds the Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase at the same site as potassium. Low potassium, often caused by loop or thiazide diuretics, increases digoxin binding and toxicity.
Answer: D = 370 mg
Body-surface-area dosing: many cytotoxic and some paediatric doses are prescribed per square metre of body surface area: dose (mg) = dose per m² × BSA (m²). The Mosteller formula estimates BSA = √(height (cm) × weight (kg)/3600).
Answer: V = 0.43 mL
Drawing up a dose: volume = (prescribed dose/stock strength) × stock volume. Convert to the same units first, then check that the volume fits the syringe and lands on one of its graduations.
Answer: CL = 4.753 L/h
Clearance and volume: at steady state the dosing rate equals the elimination rate, so the maintenance rate = CL × Css. A loading dose is LD = Vd × C/(S × F), with S the salt factor (fraction of active drug in the salt) and F the bioavailability (1 for IV). From two levels, k = ln(C₁/C₂)/Δt; for an IV bolus Vd = dose/C₀ and CL = k × Vd. The numbers are for practice only; at the bedside always follow local protocols and have high-risk doses double-checked.
Answer: τ = 11.2 h
Designing a regimen: with rapid IV doses the level falls from peak to trough during the interval, so τ = ln(Cpeak/Ctrough)/k and the dose that restores the peak is Vd × (Cpeak − Ctrough). The average steady-state level is Css,avg = S·F·dose/(CL·τ). An infusion rises as C = (R/CL)(1 − e−kt). For a drug cleared by the kidneys, the dose is scaled with the creatinine clearance. The numbers are for practice only; at the bedside always follow local protocols and have high-risk doses double-checked.
In practice the interval is rounded to a convenient value such as 8, 12, 24 or 36 h, and the levels are checked again.
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