You may be wondering how to calculate doses for medications that require surface area values such as chemotherapy drugs. SmartFlow is set up to calculate medications based on mg/kg or mg/lbs - NOT by body surface area which is what the m2 dosage requires:





If you choose m2 in the dosage section, the calculator will not function, and the total dose boxes will be greyed out.


However, there is a way around this problem, so you can still use the medication on the flowsheets and have the drug calculation appear correct when added: 

 

1. You will need to calculate the total dose for the patient manually.

2. Enter the Total dose volume (i.e. the 0.48mL as shown below), and the calculator will now give the Dosage calculation by working backwards:

 

3.  Change the second value in the Dosage section to /patient, /dog or /cat, etc.:

 

4. Now you get the correct Total dose (mg, mL), as well as the Dosage per patient. Choose how you want to have the medication displayed on the flowsheet by choosing Dose, Total (mg), or Total (mL) option, and click Done to save changes.


We hope you found this information useful!