[New pediatric drug dosage aids. Improving patient safety]. / Neue Hilfsmittel zur Dosierung von Medikamenten im Kindesalter. Verbesserung der Patientensicherheit.

ABSTRACT

Dosing errors when administering medicine to children occur often and are due, e.g., to the commonly required dilution of the drugs, misjudgment of the patient's weight, confusion between drugs with similar names, and inadequate communication. Various aids (e.g., measuring tapes and dilution tables) have been designed to avoid mistakes to the greatest extent possible. In daily clinical practice, books and pocket cards are still used for rapid orientation. Use of smartphone-based apps continues to increase, whereby the user is ultimately responsible for their validity. In clinical practice, the simplest possible strategies should be used. A culture that encourages disclosure of errors is useful in order to optimize processes and avoid future errors.