BMJ 1995;311:1435 (25 November)

Letters

Expressing the dose of adrenaline in milligrams is easier

EDITOR,--In his article on the treatment of anaphylaxis Malcolm Fisher emphasises the role of adrenaline.1 The dose that he recommends is expressed as two volumes of two solutions of differing concentration. Quoting a dose in this way increases confusion and makes the dose less memorable--which may partly explain why the doctor described in the introductory letter "fumbles through pages of a book to figure out adrenaline dosage."

The revised guidelines of the European Resuscitation Council's working party now express the adrenaline dose in milligrams, and this has both simplified resuscitation algorithms and made them more memorable.2 This has been complemented by the availability of adrenaline in rapid assembly preloaded syringes of 1 mg (10 ml of 1/10000) (Min-I-Jet). Although these syringes are currently recommended by the manufacturers for only intravenous or intracardiac use, they will readily accept a 21 gauge syringe and could therefore also deliver an intramuscular dose.

If . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Fortnightly Review: Treatment of acute anaphylaxis
Malcolm Fisher
BMJ 1995 311: 731-733. [Abstract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Alexander, R, Smith, G B (1996). Resuscitation charts should be used in paediatric care. BMJ 312: 443-443 [Full text]  
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