Pediatric Anesthesia Calculator
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About the Calculator
Background
Medication administration errors continue to be a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the perioperative setting, and the pediatric population is particularly vulnerable. Lack of familiarity with drug dosages, weight-based dosing, and working in an unfamiliar stressful setting can all contribute to medication errors. This website serves as a tool to help mitigate those errors by calculating drug dosages, recommending appropriate airway equipment, and displaying other information which is useful when planning or delivering pediatric anesthesia.
While these tools are aimed at anesthesia trainees, we believe more experienced providers can also benefit from the information contained within. The Boston Children's Hospital Department of Anesthesia Trainee Handbook served as the primary reference for drug dosages and other material contained in this website. Always check with your attending before administering and diluting medications if you have any doubts!
Features
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Using the calculator is simple! On the homepage, simply enter the patient's total body weight and you will be able to see recommended dosages for commonly used medications including analgesics, neuromuscular blocking and reversal agents, and more.
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Hover over the (i) information icon on each medication to learn more about recommended drug dosage ranges and see what dose was used to make the shown dose calculation.
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In addition to the meds shown in the Basic Calculator on the homepage, the Advanced Calculator contains less commonly used medications as well as the following calculations:
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Maintenance fluids
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Allowable blood loss
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BMI
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Recommended tidal volumes
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Airway equipment
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Maximum local anesthetic dosages
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The References page contains tables and information on drug dilutions, normal vital signs by age, and more.
Disclaimer
The information contained on this website is provided for informational purposes only, as a guide to assist physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers in deciding on the appropriate care required for a particular patient. At all times, physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers must exercise their independent clinical judgment, based on their knowledge, training and experience, taking into account the specific facts and circumstances of each patient, when deciding on the appropriate course of investigation and/or treatment to recommend in a particular clinical situation. When in doubt, always confer with your attending physician!
We have made every effort to ensure that the information contained on this website is as current and accurate as possible. However, changes can occur due to ongoing research and the constant influx of new information. Where possible, hospitals and healthcare practitioners should verify the information before acting on it. Reliance on any information on this website is at the user's own risk. The calculator developers are not responsible or liable for any harm, loss, or other consequences from the use or misuse of the information on this website.
Survey and Quiz
Before using our calculator, please complete the brief survey and quiz linked below. This allows us to get a sense of how clinicians are using this website and to better track improvement in knowledge of medications and airway equipment used in the pediatric anesthesia setting.
Contact Us
We would love to get your feedback on ways we can improve this website and program. Please use the form below or contact us at aabbas1@bidmc.harvard.edu. Thank you for using this tool and we hope you've found it useful!