Calculations
Author(s): Prince Shelly J
Issue: Jul/Aug 2000 - Compounding for Hospice and Cancer Patients
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Page(s): 314
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Abstract: The reader is shown how to perform calculations to solve four problems. The first involves determining the strength MS Contin tablet that would be needed by a patient who had been taking a 30-mg morphine sulfate tablet every 4 hours to control cancer pain. The second involves a patient-controlled analgesia epidural infusion of morphine sulfate, with the patient allowed to administer a dose every 30 minutes. The reader is shown how to calculate the maximum volume administered per dose that would not exceed 10 mg/24 hours and the length of time a 50-mL cassette of the 0.5-mg/mL solution would last if the patient administered the maximum dose. The third involves doxorubicin being dosed at 30 mg/m2 for 3 successive days and repeated every 4 weeks. The reader is shown how to calculate the dose for a 68-year-old man of a certain height and weight and the quantity of the solution that should be infused to provide the dose calculated using a nomogram shown with the problem. The fourth involves an intravenous dose of ondansetron to prevent nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy. The reader is shown how to calculate the initial dose of ondansetron for a patient weighing a specified amount, the flow rate needed to administer a specified volume over 15 minutes and the flow rate in drops/minute if the solution is administered using a set with a specified drop volume/milliliter.