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 = ?67 kg

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A patient who weighs 67 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.

67 kgVd = 0.7 L/kgC = 30 mg/L
LD = mg
2.Easy
110100t (h)CC₀t½ = 3.5 hC₀/2

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). In a patient, gentamicin has an elimination half-life of 3.5 h. Find the elimination rate constant k in h⁻¹.

t½ = 3.5 h
k = h⁻¹
3.Medium
VCss​ = 3 mg/LR = ? mg/minCL = 650 mL/min

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A patient has a lidocaine clearance of 650 mL/min. What infusion rate R in mg/min keeps the steady-state level at 3 mg/L?

CL = 650 mL/minCss = 3 mg/L
R = mg/min
4.Medium
VCss​ = 10 mg/LR = ? mg/h · S = 0.8CL = 0.045 L/kg/h87 kg

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). An 87 kg patient is to receive an aminophylline infusion (salt factor S = 0.8: 80% of aminophylline is theophylline). The theophylline clearance is 0.045 L/kg/h. What aminophylline infusion rate R in mg/h gives a steady-state theophylline level of 10 mg/L?

87 kgCL = 0.045 L/kg/hCss = 10 mg/LS = 0.8
R = mg/h
5.Hard
65 kg40 · womanSCr 1.5 mg/dLCrCl → τ = ? h

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A 40-year-old woman weighs 65 kg and has a serum creatinine of 1.5 mg/dL (133 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 gentamicin regimen is 80 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.

40 years65 kgwomanSCr = 1.5 mg/dL80 mg q8hCrCl normal 120 mL/min
τ = h
6.Hard
50 kg60 · womanSCr 1.2 mg/dLCrCl → D = ? mg

Practice exercise (made-up values, not clinical guidance). A 60-year-old woman weighs 50 kg and has a serum creatinine of 1.2 mg/dL (106 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 vancomycin dose is 1000 mg every 12 h for a creatinine clearance of 120 mL/min. Keeping the interval, the dose is reduced in proportion to the creatinine clearance. Find the adjusted dose D. Round to the nearest whole number.

60 years50 kgwomanSCr = 1.2 mg/dL1000 mg q12hCrCl normal 120 mL/min
D = mg

Answer key

  1. 1. LD = 1407 mg
  2. 2. k = 0.198 h⁻¹
  3. 3. R = 1.95 mg/min
  4. 4. R = 48.94 mg/h
  5. 5. τ = 18.8 h
  6. 6. D = 328 mg

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