An IV has been ordered to run at 4 gtt/min. The IV solution contains 836 mg of an active drug in a 250. mL solution. How many milligrams of active drug will the patient receive per hour if the infusion set is calibrated to deliver 13 gtt/mL?
__________ mg of active drug. Report your answer with 3 SFs. Do NOT enter unit.
I'm not a pharmacist or a health professional but this look logical to me. Check it out. Check my thinking.
The solution is 836 mg/250 mL = 3.34 mg/mL
4 gtt/min x 60 min = 240 gtt/hour.
240 gtt/hr x 1 mL/13gtt = 240/13 = 18.5 mL/hr
18.5 mL/hr x 3.34 mg/mL = ?mg/hr
To calculate the number of milligrams (mg) of active drug the patient will receive per hour, we need to follow these steps:
Step 1: Calculate the total number of drops (gtt) per hour.
Since we are given the infusion rate as 4 gtt/min, we can convert this to gtt/hour by multiplying by the number of minutes in an hour:
4 gtt/min x 60 min/hour = 240 gtt/hour
Step 2: Calculate the volume of IV solution delivered per hour.
The infusion set is calibrated to deliver 13 gtt/mL. Therefore, we need to find the volume (mL) delivered per hour by dividing the total number of drops per hour by the infusion set calibration:
240 gtt/hour ÷ 13 gtt/mL = 18.46 mL/hour
Step 3: Calculate the mg of active drug delivered per hour.
We are given that the IV solution contains 836 mg of active drug in a 250 mL solution. To find the mg of active drug delivered per hour, we can use the ratio of mg per mL:
836 mg ÷ 250 mL = 3.344 mg/mL
To find the mg delivered per hour, we can multiply the volume of IV solution delivered per hour (from Step 2) by the mg/mL ratio (from Step 3):
18.46 mL/hour x 3.344 mg/mL = 61.61384 mg/hour
Step 4: Report the answer with 3 significant figures.
Rounding the calculated value to 3 significant figures, the patient will receive 61.6 mg of active drug per hour.
Therefore, the answer is 61.6 mg.