Estimation of drug dosage regimens with a pharmacokinetic slide rule.

A pharmacokinetic slide rule to facilitate the computations based on relatively simple pharmacokinetic principles involved in the development of individualized drug dosage regimens is described. The calculations are based on the assumption that the body can be conceived as a one-compartment open model with drug elimination proceeding by apparent first-order kinetics. Examples are presented (1) to illustrate the clinical application of a slide rule to compute the time-course of drug in the body, (2) to calculate steady-state maximum and minimum levels, and accumulation during multiple dosage and (3) to estimate appropriate maintenance doses and intravenous infusion rates.