Calculator programs to deal with non-steady state, multiple dosage regimen clinical pharmacokinetics.

Serum drug levels have become a useful tool in the optimization of dosage requirements for several therapeutically important drugs. In the acute care situation the interpretation of these levels is complicated by multiple dosage regimens and inadequate time to achieve steady-state serum drug levels. Mathematical equations describing first order single compartment pharmacokinetics have been compiled. An alpha-numeric programmable calculator has been programmed to accept information regarding up to seven different serial dosage regimens. The calculator is also programmed to predict concentrations at any time during a complex set of dosage regimens or peak, trough, and average concentrations given a maintenance dosage regimen. Examples are given to demonstrate the usefulness of the programs in the clinical setting.