An adult female is to be given half a litre of normal saline over 5 hours using an I.V. set which gives 20 drops per millilitre. What is the required drip rate in drops per minute?

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Multiple Choice

An adult female is to be given half a litre of normal saline over 5 hours using an I.V. set which gives 20 drops per millilitre. What is the required drip rate in drops per minute?

Explanation:
To set the drip rate, use drops per minute = (volume in mL × drip factor) ÷ (time in minutes). The infusion is 500 mL over 5 hours, which is 300 minutes. With a drop factor of 20 drops per mL, the rate is (500 × 20) ÷ 300 = 10,000 ÷ 300 ≈ 33.3 drops per minute. Since you can’t deliver a fraction of a drop, round to the nearest whole drop: about 33 drops per minute. The calculation also checks out by converting to mL per hour: 100 mL/hour × 20 drops/mL ÷ 60 ≈ 33.3 drops/min.

To set the drip rate, use drops per minute = (volume in mL × drip factor) ÷ (time in minutes). The infusion is 500 mL over 5 hours, which is 300 minutes. With a drop factor of 20 drops per mL, the rate is (500 × 20) ÷ 300 = 10,000 ÷ 300 ≈ 33.3 drops per minute. Since you can’t deliver a fraction of a drop, round to the nearest whole drop: about 33 drops per minute. The calculation also checks out by converting to mL per hour: 100 mL/hour × 20 drops/mL ÷ 60 ≈ 33.3 drops/min.

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