( It is a generally accepted fact that th...)Dispensing Drug Dosage To Children Through Computers,Health

It is a generally accepted fact that the doses given to children differ greatly from that of adults, but it is not always clear, how much is enough for children//. A pair of studies from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center shows that making the dosage a computerized affair could greatly help children and reduce complications as well.

An online infusion calculator and a computerized drug ordering system, developed under the leadership of Christoph Lehmann, M.D., director of clinical information technology at the Children's Center, have been in use there for about three years, but this is the first time that researchers have measured their impact on medication errors.

Children in general are three times more likely than adults to be victims of medication errors because both ordering and dosing are more complex in children than adults, according to Lehmann. In children, dosing is based on calculations factoring in age, height and weight, and miscalculations and rounding errors could cause life-threatening harm. Dosing errors also cause more ill effects in children because still-developing bodies absorb, metabolize and excrete drugs at different rates than adults and thus have lower tolerance for medication overdose. Children undergoing treatment for cancer are at even greater risk because the general dangers of potent chemicals are compounded by the dosing challenges.

"Our findings reveal that using a Web-based calculator makes it less likely to order and give a child the wrong dose or commit other errors, such as omitting patient information, weight parameters or infusion rates," explains Lehmann, lead author of the Web-based calculator study, which appears in the May 8 issue of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. "Our calculator stops ordering errors before they can even reach the pharmacy, let alone the patient."

The calculator computes all doses, advises and warns of drug interactions and automatically offers "default" doses
'"/>




Page: 1 2 3 4
Related medicine news :

1. High-Dosage of Epirubicin and Cyclophosphamide may cause AML
2. Dosage Of Tamiflu Sought To Be Increased
3. Shot Supply: Reduced Dosage of Seasonal flu Vaccine, Works!
4. Heavy Dosage Of Vitamin Supplements May Be Risky For Pregnant Women
5. Children Need Different Dosage In Cardiac Arrest
6. Doctors Unaware If Pediatric Dosages Are Safe
7. Antibiotics Dangerous for Diarrhoea in Children Caused by E.Coli
8. Inhaled Steroids Safe & Effective for Children with Asthma
9. General Anesthesia Safe For Children On Ketogenic Diet Suffering From Epilepsy
10. Children suffer the most when parents divorce
11. Childrens snoring may indicate a serious problem