A patient receives 1000 mL of fluid with a drop factor of 10 gtt/mL to be infused over 8 hours. What is the drip rate in gtt/min?

A patient receives 1000 mL of fluid with a drop factor of 10 gtt/mL to be infused over 8 hours. What is the drip rate in gtt/min?

• A. 25 gtt/min
• B. 18 gtt/min
• C. 20 gtt/min
• D. 21 gtt/min

Answer: (D)

Calculating drip rate in gtt/min involves turning the total volume into a per-minute rate and then converting with the drop factor. Start by figuring out how many minutes the infusion will take: 8 hours is 480 minutes. The flow in milliliters per minute is 1000 mL divided by 480 min, which is about 2.083 mL/min. The drop factor tells you how many drops come from each milliliter, here 10 gtt/mL. Multiply the mL per minute by the drop factor: 2.083 mL/min × 10 gtt/mL ≈ 20.83 gtt/min. Since you can’t deliver a fraction of a drop, round to the nearest whole drop: 21 gtt/min. So the infusion rate is 21 gtt/min. (Equivalent check: 1000 mL over 8 hours equals 125 mL/hour; 125 mL/hour × 10 gtt/mL ÷ 60 min/hour = ~20.83 gtt/min, which rounds to 21.)

Calculating drip rate in gtt/min involves turning the total volume into a per-minute rate and then converting with the drop factor. Start by figuring out how many minutes the infusion will take: 8 hours is 480 minutes. The flow in milliliters per minute is 1000 mL divided by 480 min, which is about 2.083 mL/min. The drop factor tells you how many drops come from each milliliter, here 10 gtt/mL. Multiply the mL per minute by the drop factor: 2.083 mL/min × 10 gtt/mL ≈ 20.83 gtt/min. Since you can’t deliver a fraction of a drop, round to the nearest whole drop: 21 gtt/min. So the infusion rate is 21 gtt/min. (Equivalent check: 1000 mL over 8 hours equals 125 mL/hour; 125 mL/hour × 10 gtt/mL ÷ 60 min/hour = ~20.83 gtt/min, which rounds to 21.)