Question

The order is 500 mg of Rocephin to be taken by a 15.4 lb infant every 8 hours. The

medication label shows that 75-150 mg/kg per day is the appropriate dosage range. How
much will the patient receive per day? Is this within the normal range?

Answer 1

The infant weighing 15.4 lbs (6.98 kg) is prescribed 1500 mg of Rocephin per day (500 mg every 8 hours), which exceeds the maximum recommended daily dosage range of 75-150 mg/kg. The prescribed amount is not within the safe range recommended for the infant's weight.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question relates to calculating the daily dosage of the medication Rocephin for an infant based on the prescribed amount and frequency and comparing it to the recommended dosage range given on the medication label.First, we need to convert the infant's weight from pounds to kilograms, as the dosage on the label is given in mg/kg. Knowing that 1 pound is equal to approximately 0.453592 kg, we calculate the infant's weight in kilograms:15.4 lbs × 0.453592 kg/lb = 6.9849288 kg

Prescribed dosage is 500 mg every 8 hours. To find the total daily dosage, we multiply the single dosage by the number of times it is taken in one day (24 hours ÷ 8 hours = 3 times a day):500 mg/dose × 3 doses/day = 1500 mg/dayNext, we should check whether this daily dosage is within the recommended range of 75-150 mg/kg per day as per medication label:Minimum recommended dosage: 6.9849288 kg × 75 mg/kg = 523.86966 mg/dayMaximum recommended dosage: 6.9849288 kg × 150 mg/kg = 1047.73932 mg/dayThus, the prescribed daily dosage of 1500 mg is above the maximum recommended daily dosage range for an infant of that weight, which indicates that the prescribed dosage may not be within the safe range.