Medical Calculations

[stellatejido]

i need help for my calculations. not to sure of my answer on this. appreciate your help. thanks.

a patient is admitted for treatment of an overdose of paracetamol. the patient weighs 58kg. acetylcysteine infusion is ordered. the available supply is a 20% solution in a 10ml vial. instructions in the package insert read: add 45ml of acetylcysteine to 200ml 5% glucose and infuse over 15min . how many milligrams of drug are infused in 15 min?

[matilda123]

no acetylcycstine amount is given, you cannot solve for mg as written.

[stellatejido]

thanks matilda. appreciate it.

the teacher has given this hint.

a patient is admitted for treatment of an overdose of paracetamol. the patient weighs 58kg. acetylcysteine infusion is ordered. the available supply is a 20% solution in a 10ml vial. instructions in the package insert read: add 45ml of acetylcysteine to 200ml 5% glucose and infuse over 15min . how many milligrams of drug are infused in 15 min?

just a hint - a % solution is made up based on grams per 100ml, so 20% would be 20 grams in 100ml, 2 grams in 10n ml, etc. this might change your answer.

[matilda123]

yes, it makes all the difference! now you can make an equation.

2 grams 10ml

______ = _____

X grams 45ml

10X = 90

X = 9grams

9 grams = 900 milligrams

900 mg is infused

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

a patient is admitted for treatment of an overdose of paracetamol. the patient weighs 58kg. acetylcysteine infusion is ordered. the available supply is a 20% solution in a 10ml vial. instructions in the package insert read: add 45ml of acetylcysteine to 200ml 5% glucose and infuse over 15min . how many milligrams of drug are infused in 15 min?

a 20% solution will have

20 grams/100 ml x 1000 mg/1 gram (conversion factor) =

200 mg/ml

45 ml/1 (dose desired) x 200 mg/ml (solution dilution) =

9000 mg

so, 9000 mg of acetylcysteine will be infused in 15 minutes.

[stellatejido]

To Matilda and Daytonite,

Thanks a lot for your help, really appreciate it.

God bless.