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Maintenance Dose Formula:
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The Maintenance Dose formula calculates the regular dose of a drug required to maintain a desired plasma concentration. It considers drug clearance, target concentration, and bioavailability to determine appropriate dosing regimens.
The calculator uses the Maintenance Dose equation:
Where:
Explanation: The equation calculates the dose needed to maintain steady-state drug concentration based on how quickly the drug is cleared from the body and what fraction of the administered dose reaches systemic circulation.
Details: Accurate maintenance dose calculation is crucial for achieving therapeutic drug levels, avoiding toxicity, and ensuring effective treatment outcomes in chronic medication regimens.
Tips: Enter drug clearance in L/h, target plasma concentration in mg/L, and bioavailability as a decimal between 0-1. All values must be positive numbers.
Q1: What is drug clearance?
A: Drug clearance is the volume of plasma from which the drug is completely removed per unit time, representing the efficiency of drug elimination from the body.
Q2: How is bioavailability determined?
A: Bioavailability is determined through pharmacokinetic studies comparing the area under the curve (AUC) after extravascular administration to intravenous administration.
Q3: When is maintenance dosing used?
A: Maintenance dosing is used for drugs administered chronically to maintain therapeutic levels after an initial loading dose has achieved steady-state concentration.
Q4: What factors affect maintenance dose requirements?
A: Factors include patient's age, weight, renal/hepatic function, drug interactions, genetic factors, and disease states affecting drug metabolism and elimination.
Q5: How often should maintenance doses be administered?
A: Dosing frequency depends on the drug's half-life and should maintain concentrations within the therapeutic window without causing peak-related toxicity or trough-related inefficacy.