Clinical pharmacokinetics worksheet with answers

Free printable Clinical pharmacokinetics worksheet: 6 problems from easy to exam level, with an answer key. Print it or save it as a PDF.

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Name: ____________________   Date: ____________

1.Easy
110100t (h)CC₀t½ = 2 hC₀/2

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). In a patient, gentamicin has an elimination half-life of 2 h. Find the elimination rate constant k in h⁻¹.

t½ = 2 h
k = h⁻¹
2.Easy
Vd = 0.5 L/kgC = 15 mg/LLD = ?55 kg

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A patient who weighs 55 kg needs a loading dose of theophylline to reach a level of 15 mg/L straight away. The volume of distribution is 0.5 L/kg. Find the loading dose LD in mg.

55 kgVd = 0.5 L/kgC = 15 mg/L
LD = mg
3.Medium
VCss​ = 4 mg/LR = ? mg/minCL = 900 mL/min

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A patient has a lidocaine clearance of 900 mL/min. What infusion rate R in mg/min keeps the steady-state level at 4 mg/L?

CL = 900 mL/minCss = 4 mg/L
R = mg/min
4.Medium
110t (h)C (mg/L)C₀ = 7 mg/Lt½ = 3 hC₀/2

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A patient receives an IV bolus of 140 mg of tobramycin. The level back-extrapolated to time zero is 7 mg/L and the half-life is 3 h. Find the clearance CL in L/h.

D = 140 mgC₀ = 7 mg/Lt½ = 3 h
CL = L/h
5.Hard
VCss,avg​ = 15 mg/LD = ? mg · q12hCL = 3 L/hS = 1 · F = 1

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A patient receives vancomycin IV every 12 h; the vancomycin clearance is 3 L/h. What dose D in mg gives an average steady-state level of 15 mg/L?

CL = 3 L/hτ = 12 hS = 1F = 1Css,avg = 15 mg/L
D = mg
6.Hard
73 kg45 · manSCr 3.3 mg/dLCrCl → τ = ? h

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A 45-year-old man weighs 73 kg and has a serum creatinine of 3.3 mg/dL (292 µmol/L). Estimate the creatinine clearance with Cockcroft–Gault: CrCl (mL/min) = (140 − age) × weight (kg)/(72 × SCr in mg/dL), × 0.85 for women. The usual tobramycin regimen is 120 mg every 8 h for a creatinine clearance of 120 mL/min. Keeping the dose, the interval is lengthened in proportion to the fall in clearance. Find the new dosing interval τ. Round to one decimal place.

45 years73 kgmanSCr = 3.3 mg/dL120 mg q8hCrCl normal 120 mL/min
τ = h

Answer key

  1. 1. k = 0.3466 h⁻¹
  2. 2. LD = 412.5 mg
  3. 3. R = 3.6 mg/min
  4. 4. CL = 4.621 L/h
  5. 5. D = 540 mg
  6. 6. τ = 32.9 h

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