Question

"You are ordered to administer a dopamine infusion to your 62-year-old, 75 kg, hypotensive, cardiac patient. The ordered dose is 10 mcg/kg/min, and you plan to use a micro-drip tubing set with the standard dopamine mixture of 800 mg in a 500 mL normal saline infusion bag.

How many drops per minute will it take to deliver the ordered dose of dopamine properly?

A) 28 gtts/min
B) 42 gtts/min
C) 14 gtts/min
D) 56 gtts/min"

Answer 1

To administer the correct dopamine infusion at a dose of 10 mcg/kg/min to a 75 kg patient using a solution of 800 mg in 500 mL, a micro-drip set would be adjusted to an approximate drip rate of 28 drops per minute.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question deals with calculating the drip rate for a dopamine infusion for a cardiac patient. The ordered dose is 10 mcg/kg/min for a 75 kg patient, using a dopamine mixture of 800 mg in 500 mL normal saline. With a micro-drip tubing set, which typically delivers 60 drops per mL, we calculate the drops per minute (gtts/min) required to deliver the medication.

First, we calculate the dopamine dosage in mcg/min:

• Dosage = 10 mcg/kg/min * 75 kg = 750 mcg/min

Now, we convert the total amount of dopamine in the IV bag to mcg:

• Total Dopamine = 800 mg * 1000 mcg/mg = 800,000 mcg

We determine how many mcg are in each mL of the IV solution:

• mcg per mL = Total Dopamine / Total Volume = 800,000 mcg / 500 mL = 1600 mcg/mL

Now find how many mL/min we need to administer the correct dose:

• mL/min = Dosage / mcg per mL = 750 mcg/min / 1600 mcg/mL = 0.46875 mL/min

Finally, we calculate drops per minute using the micro-drip factor:

• gtts/min = mL/min * 60 gtts/mL = 0.46875 mL/min * 60 gtts/mL = 28.125 gtts/min

When we round this number to the nearest whole number, the answer is 28 gtts/min, which corresponds to option A).