Final answer:
To calculate the maximum dose rate of an oxytocin infusion, we establish that 25 units are in 500 ml. The prescribed maximum dosage of 20 mu/min converts to 1200 mu/h. Accounting for concentration, the correct maximum infusion rate is 60 ml/h.
Step-by-step explanation:
Calculating the Maximum Dose Rate of Oxytocin Infusion
To calculate the maximum dose rate of an oxytocin infusion in ml/h, we first need to establish the concentration of oxytocin in the fluid provided. According to the information, there are 25 units of oxytocin in 500 ml of 5% dextrose in water. The maximum dosage prescribed is 20 mu/min.
Next, we convert the maximum dosage to an hourly rate: 20 mu/min × 60 min/h = 1200 mu/h. Now, to find out how much of our provided solution this represents, we need to understand how many milliliters of solution constitute one unit of oxytocin. If 25 units are in 500 ml, then one unit is in 500 ml / 25 units = 20 ml/unit. Therefore, the maximum hourly dose in ml is 1200 mu/h × 20 ml/unit = 24,000 ml/h.
However, this number is significantly larger than the volume of our fluid bag, which indicates that there was a mix-up in calculations. To double-check, we need to consider that one unit (mu) corresponds to 20 ml, and we need 1200 units per hour. Therefore, 1200 units × 20 ml/unit actually equals 24,000 ml/h, which again cannot be correct given the total volume of the bag.
Looking at the calculation again, we see that we've erroneously multiplied units per hour by the volume per unit instead of dividing. The corrected equation shows that the maximum hourly infusion rate is: 1200 mu/h / (500 ml / 25 mu) = 1200 mu/h / 20 ml/mu = 60 ml/h.
Therefore, the infusion should be set to a maximum of 60 ml/h to administer a dose of 20 mu/min.