IV Drip Rate Calculator

The iv drip rate calculator makes it possible to find the drip rate and the drop per minute by the factors like the volume of the dose, time and the drop factor.

Let’s discuss the Drop per minute,  Drip rate and Flow rate of dosage of medicines.

How to Calculate Drops per Minute?

It may seem a little difficult to capture the term how to calculate drops per minute. It is simple to learn the formula of the drip rate for various patients. 

The drops per minute formula:

Drop per minute =(Volume *Drop factor)/(Time)

Drops per hour=(Volume *Drop factor)/(Time/60)

The drops per minute calculator makes it easy to find the Drop per minute of our drip.

Conversion:

L to ml:1 Liter=1000 ml

Hour to minutes:1h=60 minutes

Where:

Volume: measured in milliliters (ml)

Drop factor: measured in drops per minute (gtts per minute)

Time: measured in minutes

How to Calculate Drip Rate and Flow Rate?

When we are determining the flow rate of liquid in a medication. Then there are various considerations like the desired dose of the medication, bag volume and any drug in the bag that comes into play. To adjust the drip rate, according to the dosage required per minute, make it possible to adjust the slightest adjustment by the drip factor calculator.

The IV infusion calculations are given below:

Drip rate = (60 × Desired dose / 1000 × Weight × Bag volume) / (1000 × Drug in bag)

Where:

The drip factor formula includes the following terms:

Desired Dose: It is the amount of dosage in milligrams per Kg of the solvent and it calculates the infusion time of the dosage or solute. 

Weight: The Weight of the patient measured in Kilograms

Bag volume: The volume of one bag of liquid expressed in milliliters.

Drug in bag: Mass of the medicines or solute measured in milligrams.

For calculating the flow rate of the drip, we only have to multiply the drip rate by the drop factor:

Flow rate = Drip rate × Drop factor

Where:

Drop factor: Number of drops (gtt) per milliliter of the liquid substance

Type of the Drips:

There are mainly two types of the drips which we recall on the basis of the drop factor formula. 

The Micro Drip IV Tubing:

The drops per minute formula can be adjusted at 60 gtt/ml. The patients of neonatal and pediatric patients must need watchful medication. Their dosage is best administered before medication, and the IV drip rate calculator should be utilized for finding their per-minute dosage. You may find the calculating gtts/min around 60 gtt/ml.

The Macro Drip IV Tubing:

The Macrodrip  IV tubing is more standardized and has larger drops and the Macrodrops. When we are going to calculate the infusion time for the Macrodrip IV time, it is around 10 and 20 gtt/ml per minute.

What is the IV Drop Factor?

The  IV drop factor reflects the specific size of the drops of fluid.The tubing rate is the predetermined number of drops per minute to administer the medication. Tubing can be settled on either Micro Drip or Macro Drip.

Example 1:

We need to administer a simple infusion of 1,000 ml of 0.9% of Sodium Chloride over 8 hours. We are using the Macro drip tubing with a drop factor of around 15 gtts/mL. Then how to calculate drops per minute?

Solution:

To calculate the IV infusion rate, we need to use the data and make the changes accordingly:

Then by the calculating infusion time:

IV Drip rate = (Volume *Drop factor)/(Time)

IV Drip rate =(1000 mL x 15 gtts/mL) / (8 hours x 60) 

IV Drip rate = 31.25 gtts per minute.

Calculating gtts min becomes simpel when using the infusion rate calculator for patients.

Example 2:

How to calculate IV infusion rate of a person having a weight of 85 Kg.The desired dosage is 0.02mg/l, the bag volume is 40 ml the drug in the bag is 10mg.What is the drip rate and the flow rate of the IV infusion calculation?

Solution:

Weight of person =85 Kg

Desired dosage= 0.02 mg/l

Bag volume= 40 ml

Drug in bag = 10mg

Drip rate=?

Drip rate = (60 × 0.02 / 1000 × 85 × 40) / (1000 × 10) 

Drip rate= 408 ml/h

The iv drip rate calculator makes it possible to find the quantity we can use for particular patients.

Flow rate= Drip rate × Drop factor 

Flow rate = 408 ml/h × 10 gtts/ml 

Flow rate = 4080 gtts/h 

Flow rate= 68 gtts/min

Flow rate is calculated by the IV rate calculator and we require the gtts/ml which is multiplied by the drip rate to find flow rate of the dosage.

Working of Drip Rate Calculator:

In this section, we will guide how you could administer this calculator by entering the following inputs:

Inputs:

For Simple Mode:

• Enter the input volume 
• Likewise, enter the time 
• Enter drop factor of your drip
• Hit the calculate button drop per minute

For Advance Mode:

• From the drop down list, select the advanced mode of drip calculator IV.
• Enter the desired dosage
• Enter the body weight 
• Enter the bag volume
• Drag require in the bag
• Select the Drop factor
• Hit the calculate button to find drip rate.

Output:

The free drip rate calculator does the following calculations:

• The drip rate

• Concentration of dose

• Flow rate of drip
• Time to end the bag

FAQs:

Why are we using the IV dose calculator?

Patients do need special attention when coming to hospitals and calculating iv infusion rate is critical for Intravenous administration.

There are some of the special considerations for administering iv infusion calculation, and we can utilize the iv infusion rate calculator for the following reasons.

• Fluids for correcting dehydration
• Fluids for correcting electrolyte imbalance
• Fluid infusion with medication
• Blood transfusion

The rate at which a fluid is measured by the IV flow rate calculator in mL/hour or drops per minute 

Why are we using a small burette in drips?

To calculate iv infusion rate, we are using a small burette connected with a small needle and plastic dropper. You need first hand information regarding the drip rate by the iv drip rate calculator.

What are the most common drip sets?

The most common drip sets for the infusion rate are

• 60 gtts/ml minidrip drip set
• 10 gtts/ml regular drip set
• 15 gtts/ml regular drip set
• 20 gtts/ml regular drip set

Calculate iv infusion rate by the infusion time calculator for various drip sets.

What are the Variables of the IV infusion calculation?

There are 3 main variables to calculate iv infusion rate, and we are not going to ignore when we are managing the drip rate for patients.
The three variables are:

• Volume to be given in mL;
• Time expressed in minutes or hours;
• Drop factor (macrodrip tubing) in gtts/mL.

What is the PEACE method of ensuring the iv infusion calculation?

The PEACE method may be utilized to ensure the total administrative procedure is practical.

• P stands for plan: To find the dosage required to the patient, by the help of iv dosing calculator. 
• E stands for estimate: It is better to use an estimation before implementation, for this insert the values in iv drip calculator online and find the estimation results.
• A stands for approach:Answering the question such as what,how, when, and where?
• C stands for calculate: Measure the flow rate and drop rate of liquid by the iv rate calculator.
• E stands for evaluate: The calculation is rechecked by more than one expert and matches the result before implementation.

Conclusion:

The iv drip rate calculator makes it possible to carefully examine the drops per minute of our drip. We can change the desired dosage of the medicine and the time required to finish the drip. By calculating iv infusion rate, it is easy to take care of the patients and can reevaluate our estimations on the basis of calculations made by the iv drip calculator online.

References:

From the source of pedagogyeducation.com: IV Drip Rates,Guide to Calculating IV Drip Rates

From the source of pedagogyeducation.com:Infusion Drip Rate Formula,Example