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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1.Easy
110100t (h)C (mg/L)30 mg/L20 hC = ?

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). Just after an IV dose, the vancomycin level is 30 mg/L. The half-life is 10 h, and the drug is eliminated by first-order kinetics. What is the level C 20 h later?

C₀ = 30 mg/Lt½ = 10 ht = 20 h
C = mg/L
2.Easy
110100t (h)CC₀t½ = ?C₀/2

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). The elimination rate constant of lidocaine in a patient is 0.347 h⁻¹. Find the half-life t½.

k = 0.347 h⁻¹
t½ = h
3.Medium
Vd = 0.7 L/kgC = 15 mg/LLD = ? mg90 kg · S = 0.92 · F = 1

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A 90 kg patient is to be loaded intravenously with phenytoin sodium to reach a phenytoin level of 15 mg/L. The volume of distribution is 0.7 L/kg and the salt factor is S = 0.92. Find the loading dose LD of phenytoin sodium in mg.

90 kgVd = 0.7 L/kgC = 15 mg/LS = 0.92
LD = mg
4.Medium
110t (h)C (mg/L)C₀ = 8 mg/Lt½ = 3.5 hC₀/2

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A patient receives an IV bolus of 150 mg of gentamicin. The level back-extrapolated to time zero is 8 mg/L and the half-life is 3.5 h. Find the clearance CL in L/h.

D = 150 mgC₀ = 8 mg/Lt½ = 3.5 h
CL = L/h
5.Hard
0.1110t (h)C (mg/L)Cpeak​ = 7τ = ?Ctrough​ = 0.5

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A patient's gentamicin half-life is 2 h. The target is a peak of 7 mg/L and a trough of 0.5 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.

t½ = 2 hCpeak = 7 mg/LCtrough = 0.5 mg/L
τ = h
6.Hard
t (h)C (mg/L)Css​t = ?75%

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A vancomycin infusion is started without a loading dose. The half-life in this patient is 10 h. How long t does it take to reach 75% of the steady-state level?

t½ = 10 h75% Css
t = h

Answer key

  1. 1. C = 7.5 mg/L
  2. 2. t½ = 1.998 h
  3. 3. LD = 1027 mg
  4. 4. CL = 3.713 L/h
  5. 5. τ = 7.6 h
  6. 6. t = 20 h

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