College

A medication is dosed at 120 mg/m². How much does the patient need if they weigh 165 lbs and are 68 inches tall?

A. 2.27 mg
B. 21 mg
C. 227 mg
D. 211 mg

Answer :

To calculate the medication dosage for a patient based on their body surface area (BSA), you can follow these steps:

1. Convert Weight from Pounds to Kilograms:
- The patient weighs 165 pounds. To convert pounds to kilograms, use the conversion factor 1 pound = 0.453592 kilograms.
- [tex]\( 165 \, \text{lbs} \times 0.453592 = 74.84268 \, \text{kg} \)[/tex].

2. Convert Height from Inches to Centimeters:
- The patient is 68 inches tall. To convert inches to centimeters, use the conversion factor 1 inch = 2.54 centimeters.
- [tex]\( 68 \, \text{inches} \times 2.54 = 172.72 \, \text{cm} \)[/tex].

3. Calculate Body Surface Area (BSA):
- Use the Mosteller formula to calculate BSA:
[tex]\[
\text{BSA} = \sqrt{\left(\frac{\text{height in cm} \times \text{weight in kg}}{3600}\right)}
\][/tex]
- Plug in the values:
[tex]\[
\text{BSA} = \sqrt{\left(\frac{172.72 \times 74.84268}{3600}\right)} \approx 1.8949 \, \text{m}^2
\][/tex]

4. Determine the Dosage:
- The medication is dosed at 120 mg per square meter of BSA.
- Calculate the total dosage required:
[tex]\[
\text{Total dosage} = 120 \, \text{mg/m}^2 \times 1.8949 \, \text{m}^2 \approx 227.39 \, \text{mg}
\][/tex]

Therefore, the patient requires approximately 227 mg of the medication. This matches your answer choice: '227mg.'