Questions: A doctor administers a drug to a 34-kg patient, using a dosage formula of 45 mg / kg / day. Assume that the drug is available in a 100 mg per 5 mL suspension or in 300 mg tablets. a. How many tablets should a 34-kg patient take every four hours? b. The suspension with a drop factor of 10 gtt / mL delivers the drug intravenously to the patient over a twelve-hour period. What flow rate should be used in units of gtt/hr? a. The patient should take pills every four hours. (Type an integer or decimal rounded to the nearest hundredth as needed.) b. The intravenous suspension flow should be set to gtt/hour. (Type an integer or decimal rounded to the nearest hundredth as needed)

Solution Steps

To solve these problems, we need to calculate the total daily dosage required for the patient and then determine how this dosage can be administered using the available forms of the drug.

a. First, calculate the total daily dosage in mg for the patient based on their weight. Then, determine how many tablets are needed for the total daily dosage and divide by the number of doses per day to find the number of tablets per dose.

b. Calculate the total volume of the suspension needed for the daily dosage. Then, determine the flow rate in drops per hour (gtthr) using the drop factor and the total volume to be administered over a twelve-hour period.

The total daily dosage for a \(34 \, \text{kg}\) patient is calculated as follows: \[ \text{Total Daily Dosage} = 34 \, \text{kg} \times 45 \, \frac{\text{mg}}{\text{kg} \cdot \text{day}} = 1530 \, \text{mg} \]

Next, we find the number of tablets required for the total daily dosage: \[ \text{Tablets Per Day} = \frac{1530 \, \text{mg}}{300 \, \text{mg/tablet}} \approx 5.1 \, \text{tablets} \]

Since the patient takes medication every four hours, we calculate the number of doses per day: \[ \text{Doses Per Day} = \frac{24 \, \text{hours}}{4 \, \text{hours/dose}} = 6 \, \text{doses} \] Now, we can find the number of tablets to take per dose: \[ \text{Tablets Per Dose} = \frac{5.1 \, \text{tablets}}{6 \, \text{doses}} \approx 0.85 \, \text{tablets} \]

To find the total volume of the suspension needed for the daily dosage: \[ \text{Suspension Volume} = \left(\frac{1530 \, \text{mg}}{100 \, \text{mg/5 mL}}\right) \times 5 \, \text{mL} = 76.5 \, \text{mL} \]

Finally, we calculate the flow rate in drops per hour: \[ \text{Flow Rate} = \frac{76.5 \, \text{mL} \times 10 \, \frac{\text{gtt}}{\text{mL}}}{12 \, \text{hours}} \approx 63.75 \, \text{gtthour} \]

Final Answer