Formula sheets, the key method steps for every topic and 6 practice problems, with full solutions at the back.
A solution has a ratio strength of 1:1000. You need 0.4 mg. Draw up the volume in the 1 mL syringe: what volume V is that?
A vial holds 250 mg of powder. You add 1.7 mL of diluent, and the powder adds 0.8 mL of volume. The prescription is 220 mg. Draw up the dose: what volume V do you give?
A child weighing 37 kg is prescribed 4 mg/kg of a drug. The stock solution contains 20 mg/mL. Draw up the dose: what volume V do you give?
The prescription is 0.72 mg. The ampoule contains 2000 micrograms per 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 71 kg patient receives a theophylline infusion. The clearance is 0.03 L/kg/h. What infusion rate R in mg/h gives a steady-state level of 15 mg/L?
Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A 95 kg patient on regular gentamicin doses is at steady state. The target is a peak of 6 mg/L and a trough of 0.5 mg/L, and the volume of distribution is 0.3 L/kg. Assuming rapid IV doses, what dose D raises the level from the trough to the peak?
Answer: V = 0.4 mL
Strength to volume: turn the strength into mg per mL first. A w/v percentage is grams per 100 mL, so x% = 10x mg/mL. A ratio strength 1:n is 1 g in n mL. After reconstitution the concentration is the powder's dose over the final volume (diluent + powder volume). Then volume = dose/concentration.
Answer: V = 2.2 mL
Strength to volume: turn the strength into mg per mL first. A w/v percentage is grams per 100 mL, so x% = 10x mg/mL. A ratio strength 1:n is 1 g in n mL. After reconstitution the concentration is the powder's dose over the final volume (diluent + powder volume). Then volume = dose/concentration.
Answer: V = 7.4 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.
On this 10 mL syringe every small line is 0.2 mL.
Answer: V = 0.36 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: R = 31.95 mg/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: D = 156.8 mg
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 dose is rounded to a convenient amount.
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