Injection need help with ml vs mg how to calculate

[Michelle Thompson]

The providers always document ml and the HCPCS mostly has mg. I need to figure out the caluclation to verify the units are correct.
example:
1.) 6ml 0.25% Bupivacaine and 2 ml of 4 mg/ml Dexamethasone.
2.) 2ml 0.25% Bupivacaine and 1 ml of 4 mg/ml Dexamethasone

Thank you

 

[thomas7331]

The providers always document ml and the HCPCS mostly has mg. I need to figure out the caluclation to verify the units are correct.
example:
1.) 6ml 0.25% Bupivacaine and 2 ml of 4 mg/ml Dexamethasone.
2.) 2ml 0.25% Bupivacaine and 1 ml of 4 mg/ml Dexamethasone

Thank you

If you are only given the ml, which is the volume, then you will need to find the strength of the medication in order to calculate the units. You multiply the volume times the strength to get the dosage. In the example above, you have the strength of the Dexamethasone documented as 4 mg per ml, so you can easily calculate that in example 1, 2 ml were given so it is 8 mg total. In example 2, 1 ml given will equal a 4 mg total dose.

For the Bupivacaine, you don't have a strength, but a 0.25% dose should be 2.5 mg/ml (you can verify this on the box or label of the drug). So assuming that is correct, then 6 ml of Bupivacaine would be 6 X 2.5 = 15 mg given. Similarly, 2 ml would be 5 mg.

Hope that makes sense and helps some.

 

[Michelle Thompson]

Injections

Thank you Thomas. This did help.
I was looking at this completely wrong.