CALCULATION OF INTRAVENOUS INFUSION RATES

STEP 1:

Determine the amount of fluid that will be administered per unit of time (usually 60 minutes or 1 hour).

Example: 1000 ml./8 hours = 125 ml./hr

STEP 2:

Identify the type of drip chamber that is on the IV administration set.

Alaris sets: 20 drops/ml.

Macro Drip: 10 or 15 drops/ml., (varies with the manufacturer). Drip rate for the chamber is marked on the IV set box. Baxter (formerly Travenol) macro drip sets deliver 10 drops per ml.

Micro Drip: 60 drops/ml.

STEP 3:

To calculate infusion rate, multiply amount to be infused per period of time (from step 1) by the drip rate (from step 2).

Example: How many drops per minute should be administered to deliver 125 ml/hr. using an Alaris drip set (20 drops per ml.)?

    Amount to be administered: 125 ml

    Administration time (in minutes): 60 min

    Drip chamber size: 20 drops/ml

    125 ml./60 min. X 20 drops/ml = 41.7 drops per minute

    Answer: 42 drops per minute to deliver 125 ml. in 60 minutes using an Alaris drip chamber.

TABLE 1: Frequently Used Infusion Rates (ml/hr)

 

Infusion Time	250.0 ml	500.0 ml	1000.0 ml
4 hrs 6 hrs 8 hrs 10 hrs 12 hrs 24 hrs	62.0 ml/hr   41 31 25 20 10	125.0 ml/hr 83 62 50 41 21	250.0 ml/hr 166 125 100 83 42

TABLE 2: Frequently Used Drip Rates (drops per minute)

Administration Set drop size	Infusion Rate (ml/hr)
	41	83	100	125	166	250
60 drops/ml 20 drops/ml 15 drops/ml 10 drops/ml	41 14 10 7	83 26 21 13	100 32 25 16	125 42 31 21	166 54 41 27	250 82 62 41

(Quantities are in drops per minute to deliver infusion rate)