Question

Physician's order: Acetaminophen 210 mg po q4-6h for a child weighing 39 lbs. The recommended dose is 10-15 mg/kg/dose q 4-6 hours. Acetaminophen is supplied as 160mg/5ml. Is the ordered dose safe? Calculate the dose to be given in ml. (Round the final answer to the nearest tenth decimal place.)

Answer 1

Doctors advice is Acetaminophen 210mg po q4 -6 hrs

child's weight is 39 lbs,we need to convert it into kilogram,

1 lbs = 0.4535 kg

so 39 lbs = 0.4535 x 39 = 17.68 kg

It is given that the reccomnded dose is 10 - 15 mg /kg /dose

To check whether the doctors advice is safe we need to multiply this with the weight of the child

hence it become 10 x 17.68 - 15 x 17.68 = 176.8 - 265.2 mg,so the doctors advice is safe.

The formula to calculate the dose in ml is

(what we want / what we have ) x quantity

Here what we want is 210 mg,what we have is 160mg in 5 ml

so when we put this values in the formula it become

(210/160 ) x 5 = 6.56 ml

So to give 210mg we have to take 6.56 ml each time.