Hydrocortisone

[Ruba]

My patient was given hydrocortisone IV for her asthma

I was asking a nurse how much they gave her, he was in a rush so he mumbled something....I believe he said 200mg , he said something about diluting it but i didn't catch it. How much would we normally dilute?

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

HYDROCORTISONE (SOLU CORTEF ®)Â* -Â* Intravenous (IV) Dilution

Google is your friend

Further dilution is not necessary for intravenous or intramuscular injection

[Compassion_x]

Sounds like a good question for a drug book, as well.

[Ruba]

HYDROCORTISONE (SOLU CORTEF ®)Â* -Â* Intravenous (IV) Dilution

Google is your friend

Have read that but I'm pretty sure he said he diluted it...maybe I heard wrong or is it possible that some hospitals dilute?

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

If you read the complete link you will see that it comes as a powder and needs to be diluted with the provided solution. These usually come in per-packaged vials and need to be "activated" by pushing the rubber stopper into the vial releasing the diluent into the powder. This then needs to be gently rolled between your hands to mix without forming bubbles.

Preparation of Solutions

100 mg Plain—For intravenous or intramuscular injection, prepare solution by aseptically adding not more than 2 mL of Bacteriostatic Water for Injection or Bacteriostatic Sodium Chloride Injection to the contents of one vial. For intravenous infusion, first prepare solution by adding not more than 2 mL of Bacteriostatic Water for Injection to the vial; this solution may then be added to 100 to 1000 mL of the following: 5% dextrose in water (or isotonic saline solution or 5% dextrose in isotonic saline solution if patient is not on sodium restriction).

DIRECTIONS FOR USING THE ACT-O-VIAL SYSTEM

1. Press down on plastic activator to force diluent into the lower compartment.

2. Gently agitate to effect solution.

3. Remove plastic tab covering center of stopper.

4. Sterilize top of stopper with a suitable germicide.

5. Insert needle squarely through center of stopper until tip is just visible. Invert vial and withdraw dose.

Further dilution is not necessary for intravenous or intramuscular injection. For intravenous infusion, first prepare solution as just described. The 100 mg solution may then be added to 100 to 1000 mL of 5% dextrose in water (or isotonic saline solution or 5% dextrose in isotonic saline solution if patient is not on sodium restriction). The 250 mg solution may be added to 250 to 1000 mL, the 500 mg solution may be added to 500 to 1000 mL and the 1000 mg solution to 1000 mL of the same diluents. In cases where administration of a small volume of fluid is desirable, 100 mg to 3000 mg of SOLUCORTEF may be added to 50 mL of the above diluents. The resulting solutions are stable for at least 4 hours and may be administered either directly or by IV piggyback.

[Ruba]

sorry the link didn't appear on my phone, i just saw your quote....Thank you

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

go to You-tube...search act-o-vile and see what I am talking about