Analysis of the accuracy of size-based emergency drug dosing systems in a Venezuelan pediatric population

Abstract

The dosage of medications in pediatric emergencies is one of the most common and difficult practices in the area and its error could cause the worsening of the patient's clinical condition, the mathematical process involved in calculating doses in stressful situations. introduces an important and proven source of error. A solution proposed for some years is dosing based on the patient's height, which is easier to measure in an acutely ill patient in the supine position while receiving emergency care. The objective of the study was to verify whether emergency dosing systems based on height/weight ratio in the area of ​​pediatrics are accurate in a Venezuelan pediatric population. This is a descriptive, cross-sectional clinical epidemiological study. Patients aged between 01-05 years with 11 months and 29 days of age who attended the outpatient clinics and Pediatric Emergency Services of different health centers were taken. Sampling was carried out in a simple random manner. The study demonstrated that weight estimation based on formula can lead to errors that are sufficiently important for the choice or estimation of doses of medication or equipment based on that data to be erroneous. The use of the tape would result in a different dosage, hydration and use of the endotracheal tube than that corresponding to the actual weight, observed in patients in the malnutrition group, since methods based on height are a precise alternative when applied to populations. with weight and height that do not deviate significantly from normal