do not understand peds dosing (and epocrates calculator)

[buford]

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i goto epocrates for dosing and no problem (for adults). but then when i goto peds, the numbers under the drug...
some are in bold at the top and then, in non-bold form, it says 250,500; 125,250/5mL then nonbold-dose 25-50 mg/kg/day po div q6-8h x 10 days. i get everyting after the mg/kg/day part. what's the stuff in bold for? what's the mg/kg/day mean? is that if it's in a pill and you want to convert it into a liquid? and what's the difference between dose amount and strength?

thanks in advance.

edit: if someone could give me an example for an 5 y/o ...say 55lb kid w/strep using pen vk.

 

[type b pharmD]

i goto epocrates for dosing and no problem (for adults). but then when i goto peds, the numbers under the drug...
some are in bold at the top and then, in non-bold form, it says 250,500; 125,250/5mL then nonbold-dose 25-50 mg/kg/day po div q6-8h x 10 days. i get everyting after the mg/kg/day part. what's the stuff in bold for? what's the mg/kg/day mean? is that if it's in a pill and you want to convert it into a liquid? and what's the difference between dose amount and strength?

thanks in advance.

edit: if someone could give me an example for an 5 y/o ...say 55lb kid w/strep using pen vk.

first med student who is not a troll in 6 months!! thanks for visiting!

I'm a noob still (p1) and never used epocrates but im gonna throw out a wild guess that its probably using "strength" as a heading for listing available dosage formulations.. such as 250mg pills, 500mg pills, 125mg/5ml oral liquid and 250mg/5ml oral liquid products, as a reference as to whats available. Im guessing those are "strengths available" , where as 25-50mg/kg/day is obviously a recommendation for dose, regardless of the product (however it should have some indication of whether this is oral or IV). So you would just follow the guidelines within that dosage range, and then choose a product to recommend. I dunno, maybe you are asking a more difficult question and im not seeing it. Or else just wait here until someone with epocrates experience responds.

guidelines for kids strep throat from one reference (AHA guidelines 2009) i checked says 250mg 2-3x/day x10d for patients under 60lbs, 500mg 2-3x/day x10d for patients >60lbs. So you could choose any of the strengths available to get the person the dose, depending on if the situation calls for a liquid or pill form, maybe the pt doesnt like large pills and would want to take multiple smaller pills, or maybe they cant or wont take pills, etc

 

[ucrx]

i goto epocrates for dosing and no problem (for adults). but then when i goto peds, the numbers under the drug...
some are in bold at the top and then, in non-bold form, it says 250,500; 125,250/5mL then nonbold-dose 25-50 mg/kg/day po div q6-8h x 10 days. i get everyting after the mg/kg/day part. what's the stuff in bold for? what's the mg/kg/day mean? is that if it's in a pill and you want to convert it into a liquid? and what's the difference between dose amount and strength?

thanks in advance.

edit: if someone could give me an example for an 5 y/o ...say 55lb kid w/strep using pen vk.

I don't have epocrates anymore, so I can't check the dosing it gives for treating strep in pediatrics or the format of everything. I'm guessing that TypeB is right about the bold being available dosage strengths. Using the above dosing example you gave, a 55lb child (25kg) would get a dose of 625-1250mg divided in 3 or 4 doses a day. Say you wanted to give it 4 times a day, you could give 1 tsp of the 250mg/5ml 4 times a day and it'll be within the range.

 

[naseuy]

oops didn't see ucrx's post.

but yeah, 250, 500 and 125/5ml and 250/5ml are available dosage forms.

You use 25kg x (25-50mg/kg/day) to find the dosage range you could use per day.