The pediatric dose calculator is a tool for pediatric patients for family physicians, pediatricians, and practicing nurses designed to simplify the dose calculation.
Four variables are considered for the pediatric dose calculation: dosage, weight, age, and frequency.
Use the pediatric dose calculator
- Access the Medications summary box in the patient record.
⚠️ The patient must be 18 years old or less for the calculator to be available. - Search and select the medication.
⚠️ The calculator is not available for medication made of more than one active ingredient. It is also not available when the form of medication is indivisible: inhalations, drops, powder, etc.
- Click on the calculator icon located at the top of the prescription form. When a pediatric prescription template (dosage displayed in mg/kg/dose format) is selected, the calculator opens automatically.
- Complete the dosage and frequency. The weight will automatically be filled with the most recent weight entered in the Vital signs summary box.
- Click on Adjust prescription for the entered data to be sync in the prescription form.
- Complete the prescription and add to the order by clicking on the checkmark at the top right corner. Complete the order.
- Complete the dosage and frequency. The weight will automatically be filled with the most recent weight entered in the Vital signs summary box.
ℹ️ Please note
- The weight and age of the patient appear on the prescription to facilitate collaboration with the pharmacist. The weight is only displayed on the prescription if it was previously entered in the Vital signs summary box.
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In order to ensure consistency between the weight listed on the prescription and the weight used to calculate the prescribed dose, the pediatric dose calculator base its calculation solely on the weight listed in the Vital signs summary box. If no weight has previously been entered in the vital signs, the Adjust Prescription button will be grayed out and it will not be possible to use the calculator.
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However, it is possible to manually enter the weight in the pediatric dose calculator by activating the Change the weight into the dose calculator option available in the Medications preferences.
⚠️ Warning: The weight written directly into the dose calculator will only be used for calculations and will not appear in the patient record. In other words, the weight entered in the calculator will not be recorded in the Vital signs summary box and only the most recent weight entered in the Vital signs summary box will be displayed on the prescription. Activation of this functionality can therefore result in a discrepancy between the printed weight on the prescription and the one used for the pediatric dose calculation.
RxVigilance pediatric dose calculator tool
We invite you to use the RxVigilance pediatric dose calculator tool as a reference.
It is available when clicking on the Vigilance logo located at the following locations:
- The top right of the pediatric dose calculator window;
- Instead of the calculator icon when our pediatric calculator is not available (e.g. medication with more than one active ingredient, unsupported form).
It considers the weight, age, medication, and therapeutic indication. It will guide you in the dose selection following the previously mentioned variables. It should be noted that expanding the Vigilance Santé window will allow you to better visualize the complete information.