An unconscious 4 year old child with a blood glucose reading 30 mg/dl requires two ml / kilograms of d50 the estimated weight is 35 lb you have a pre-filled syringe at a concentration of 25 g per 50 ml how many grams of dextrose will I administer

The first step in solving this dosage calculation problem is to convert the patient's weight from pounds (lb) to kilograms (kg). To do so, multiply the weight in pounds by a conversion factor reflecting the proportion that there are 2.2 lb in each kg.

35 lb × (1 kg / 2.2 lb)
lb in both numerator and denominator will cancel each other out, leaving kg as the remaining unit.

(35 × 1 kg) / 2.2
= 15.909
≈ 16 kg

Ordered Amount

Next, this weight in kilograms is used to determine how many milliliters (mL) of dextrose (D50) the patient should be administered, per the written prescription usually under the instruction of a provider (e.g. physician). This is known as the ordered amount. To do so, multiply the weight in kilograms by the rate of mL per kg.

16 kg × (2 mL / kg)
kg in both numerator and denominator will cancel each other out, leaving mL as the remaining unit.

(16 × 2 mL) / 1
= 32 mL

Dose to Administer

Finally, the amount of dextrose to administer is determined by multiplying the ordered amount (32 mL) by the concentration of the medication within the pre-filled syringe, typically provided from the pharmacy's stock of available medications. This is called the dosage strength. The following formula represents the described calculation:

ordered amount × dosage strength = administered dose

32 mL × (25 g / 50 mL)
mL in both numerator and denominator will cancel each other out, leaving grams (g) as the remaining unit of measurement.

(32 × 25 g) / 50
= 800 g / 50
= 16 g

16 grams of dextrose should be administered to the patient experiencing hypoglycemia.