Somebody please....help me solve this!!

[californiadreaming]

i'm in my maternal-child semester and already having problems with the math!!

would someone please explain these math problems that contain "pediatric dose parameters"

if you would please, step by step, break this down for me. i use dimentional analysis but can't for the life of me .....even get started much less understand these problems.

thanks so much for taking the time to help me.

1. a child has seizures.

order: phenytoin 124 mg, po, q.d

child's height and weight: 36 in, 45 lb.

bsa is 0.74 m²

pediatric dose parameter: 350 mg/m²/d

drugs avalilabe: dilantin 30 mg/5 ml and 100 mg/5 ml

a. what is the child's body surface area (bsa) in meters squared?

b. what is the dose parameter according to the child's bsa?

c. is the dose within safe parameters?

d. how many milliliters would you give the child per day? or would you give?

2. a child has pain. order: codeine gr 1.4, po, q4-6h, prn

child's height and weight: 42 in., 50 lb or 0.84 m²

pediatric dose parameter: 100 mg/m²/d

drug available: codeine 15 mg tablets

a. what is the child's body surface area?

b. what is the dose parameter according to the child's bsa? (convert grains to milligrams)

c. is the dose within safe dose parameters? explain

d. how many tablet(s) would you give the child per dose?

[MassagetoRN]

A) you'd get a better response by changing your title to something more specific, like "help with pediatric dosage calc"

B) I've never seen this BSA stuff. I also do dimesional analysis. I always start by turning the weight into kg and and then going from there. Sorry I can't help more!

[pedsnurse72]

I've never used BSA either or ever had a Pediatrician use it. But I agree with the poster. First thing to do always is convert pounds to kilograms.

Does anybody here use BSA in medication calculation?