Question

Greg Wilson, a 65-year-old man, is diagnosed with pneumonia. He has a history of congestive heart failure. His physician has ordered an antibiotic for the pneumonia and he takes digoxin every day.

As the health care provider, which question would you ask first before administering his antibiotic? Why is the first dose of the antibiotic twice as much as the maintenance dose? Which variables may slow his metabolism and excretion?

Answer 1

As healthcare providers, the questions to be asked before administering the antibiotic are:-

• Are you allergic to any sort of medications? It is important to know the medication that is best for him.
• Is he taking any medications? What are the medications he is currently undertaking for congestive heart failure?
• Are there any other health conditions or something that he is suffering from?

The first dose is twice as much as the maintenance doses as it helps in building up the required high level initially inside the body. This helps in initiating the process killing the bacteria or reducing the impact of that particular disease. The loading dose must be high as it is the initial dose which is the maximum dose as it quickly elevates the drug level in the blood.

There are many variables that tend to slow down the metabolism and excretion. The weight is the first factor where drug metabolism depends on the size and weight of the patient. Gender is the next factor where both men and women have different way to react to the drug metabolism. It is depends on the age as with increasing age, the level of metabolism and excretion decreases.