Question

Achromycin is to be administered 11mg per pound in 4 equal doses to a patient weighing 34kg. Oral suspension is available 125mg per 5mL. How many millilitres should you give per dose? Use 1 kg = 2.2 lbs and round your final answer to 1 decimal place.

Answer 1

We are told that 11 mg of Achromycin per patient pound must be administered, we are also given the weight of the patient as 34 kg, in order to properly use this weight we must convert it from kg to pounds by multiplying the weight in kg by 2.2, like this:

34×2.2 = 74.8

Then, the patient weight is 74.8 lbs, by multiplying this by the 11 mg per pound of Achromycin that have to be administered we can determine the mg of Achromycin, like this:

74.8×11 = 822.8

Then, 822.8 mg of Achromycin has to be administered, by dividing this amount by 4, we can determine the amount for each dose:

822.8/4 = 205.7

Then 205.7 mg are given per dose, since 5 mL contains 125 mg, we can take the ratio of mL to mg to get:

5/125 = 1/25

By multiplying the above ratio by 205.7 we can determine the milliliters that should be given per dose, like this:

205.7×1/25 = 8.2

Then, 8.2 mL must be given per dose