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How To Calculate IV Flow Rates

The document provides instructions for calculating intravenous (IV) fluid flow rates based on volume of fluid, time period, and drop factor of the IV set. It defines drop factors as 10, 15, or 60 drops per ml, and provides an example calculation for delivering 1500ml of IV saline over 12 hours using a drop factor of 15 drops/ml, which equals a flow rate of 31 drops per minute.

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125 views1 page

How To Calculate IV Flow Rates

The document provides instructions for calculating intravenous (IV) fluid flow rates based on volume of fluid, time period, and drop factor of the IV set. It defines drop factors as 10, 15, or 60 drops per ml, and provides an example calculation for delivering 1500ml of IV saline over 12 hours using a drop factor of 15 drops/ml, which equals a flow rate of 31 drops per minute.

Uploaded by

dmsa
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How to calculate IV flow rates:

Intravenous fluid must be given at a specific rate, neither too fast nor too slow. The specific rate
may be measured as ml/hour, L/hour or drops/min. To control or adjust the flow rate only drops
per minute are used.

The burette contains a needle or plastic dropper which gives the number of drops per ml (the
drop factor). A number of different drop factors are available (determined by the length and
diameter of the needle).

Common drop factors are:


10 drops/ml (blood set), 15 drops / ml (regular set), 60 drops / ml (microdrop).

To measure the rate we must know:


(a) the number of drops
(b) time in minutes.

The formula for working out flow rates is:

volume (ml) X drop factor (gtts / ml)


= gtts / min
---------------------------------------------
(flow rate)
time (min)

Example:

1500 ml IV Saline is ordered over 12 hours. Using a drop factor of 15 drops / ml, how many
drops per minute need to be delivered?

1500 (ml) X 15 (gttss / ml)


--------------------------------------------------- = 31 gtts / minute
12 x 60 (gives us total minutes)
Rapid healing give

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