Example

You have received a patient from another hospital on a dopamine drip except no information was given about it.  The bag is labeled with the concentration of 800 mg in 500cc of D₅W.  The IV pump is infusing at  53 cc/hr and the patient weighs 70kg.  How much dopamine is this patient receiving?  Use the example below to see how this problem was solved.

rate = 53mL/hr
weight = 70kg
dose available = 800
ml available = 500

Using the calculator, we know the patient is receiving 20 mcg/kg/min of dopamine.

Formula

Using the example above, first determine how many milligrams/hour is being delivered by the IV pump.  The rate of the IV (cc/hr) is divided by the volume of the IV bag (mL available), then multiply this result by the total amount of medication (mg) in the IV bag.

becomes

which = 84.8 mg/hr

Next, after the milligrams/hour has been determined, use the next formula to convert from milligrams/hour to mcg/kg/min.

becomes

which = 20.2 mcg/kg/min