Simple Tool Prevents Prescribing Errors

Use of a simple tool that provides standard precalculated doses can save time and minimize prescribing errors.

Medication safety is a critical priority for all physicians. Investigators in the U.K. compared two prescribing devices: the British National Formulary for Children (BNFC) calculator and a new pocket-sized tool (the Paediatric Analgesic Wheel). The wheel provided precalculated doses, rounded to an easily administered volume, of commonly used analgesics and antiemetics.

Fifty-two physicians (from anesthesia, pediatrics, and emergency medicine) were randomized to use one of the tools to prescribe seven drugs (analgesics, antiemetics, or both) to a 10-kg 1-year-old infant and a 23-kg 7-year-old child. Overall, 78% of prescriptions based on the wheel were correct for dose, minimum-dose interval, and minimum-dose frequency versus 25% of those bas…

Reviewing Author

F. Bruder Stapleton, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardCareer Physician

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Society of Pediatric Nephrology Foundation (Chair)

F. Bruder Stapleton, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardCareer Physician

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Society of Pediatric Nephrology Foundation (Chair)