Question

A provider order has been received for a dobutamine (dobutrex®) drip at 7 mcg/kg/min. the patient's weight is 220 lbs. how many milligrams per hour should be given?

Answer 1

To figure this out you first need to determine how many kg there are in 220 lbs. 1 lb equals 0.454 kg, so 220 lbs= 99.88 kg.

It states that a patient receives 7mcg per kg per minute, so the patient will receive 7 x 99.88=699.16 mcg per minute.

You need to convert this to a number of mcg per hour, so multiply the amount by 60 to get 41949.6 mcg per hour.