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
Vd = 0.7 L/kgC = 30 mg/LLD = ?101 kg

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A patient who weighs 101 kg needs a loading dose of vancomycin to reach a level of 30 mg/L straight away. The volume of distribution is 0.7 L/kg. Find the loading dose LD in mg.

101 kgVd = 0.7 L/kgC = 30 mg/L
LD = mg
2.Easy
110100t (h)CC₀t½ = ?C₀/2

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). The elimination rate constant of tobramycin in a patient is 0.277 h⁻¹. Find the half-life t½.

k = 0.277 h⁻¹
t½ = h
3.Medium
110100t (h)C (mg/L)C₀ = 12 mg/Lt½ = 3 hC₀/2

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A patient receives an IV bolus of 210 mg of gentamicin. The level back-extrapolated to time zero is 12 mg/L and the half-life is 3 h. Find the clearance CL in L/h.

D = 210 mgC₀ = 12 mg/Lt½ = 3 h
CL = L/h
4.Medium
110100t (h)C (mg/L)2 h25 mg/L12 h7.9 mg/L

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). After an IV dose of vancomycin, the level is 25 mg/L at 2 h and 7.9 mg/L at 12 h. Assume first-order elimination. Find the half-life t½.

C1 = 25 mg/L (2 h)C2 = 7.9 mg/L (12 h)
t½ = h
5.Hard
0.1110100t (h)C (mg/L)Cpeak​ = 10τ = ?Ctrough​ = 0.5

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A patient's gentamicin half-life is 3 h. The target is a peak of 10 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 = 3 hCpeak = 10 mg/LCtrough = 0.5 mg/L
τ = h
6.Hard
VCss,avg​ = ?400 mg · q8hCL = 0.045 L/kg/h53 kg · S = 0.8 · F = 1

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A 53 kg patient takes oral aminophylline (S = 0.8, F = 1) every 8 h. The theophylline clearance is 0.045 L/kg/h. Each dose is 400 mg of aminophylline. Find the average steady-state level Css,avg.

CL = 0.045 L/kg/hτ = 8 hS = 0.8F = 153 kgD = 400 mg
Css,avg = mg/L

Answer key

  1. 1. LD = 2121 mg
  2. 2. t½ = 2.502 h
  3. 3. CL = 4.043 L/h
  4. 4. t½ = 6.017 h
  5. 5. τ = 13 h
  6. 6. Css,avg = 16.77 mg/L

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