Question

A 45 kg Akita has been presented to your hospital for radiographs. The dog had a fracture repair 8 weeks ago and the veterinarian wants to use dexmedetomidine to sedate the dog so he is comfortable during the procedure. The dosage the veterinarian wants to use is 7 mcg/kg IV. The concentration of dexmeditomidine is 0.5 mg/ml. How much drug are you going to use?

Answer 1

To calculate the dosage of dexmedetomidine for a 45 kg Akita, multiply the dog's weight by the prescribed mcg/kg to get the total micrograms needed, then convert this to milliliters using the drug's concentration. You will use 0.63 ml of dexmedetomidine for sedation.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student's question is about calculating the correct dosage of dexmedetomidine to sedate a 45 kg Akita for radiographs. The veterinarian has prescribed a dosage of 7 mcg/kg IV, with the concentration of the drug being 0.5 mg/ml. To find the required amount of dexmedetomidine, you first convert the dog's weight into micrograms (since the dosage is in mcg/kg), which is 45,000 mcg (since there are 1,000 micrograms in a gram). Then, multiply the dog's weight in micrograms by the dosage per kilogram:

45 kg x 7 mcg/kg = 315 mcg.

Next, convert the total dosage needed into milliliters using the concentration of the drug:

315 mcg / 500 mcg/ml (since 0.5 mg is the same as 500 mcg) = 0.63 ml.

Therefore, you will use 0.63 ml of dexmedetomidine to sedate the Akita.