PEDIATRICS Vol. 54 No. 6 December 1974, pp. 713-717
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Levy, G.
Right arrow Articles by Yaffe, S. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Levy, G.
Right arrow Articles by Yaffe, S. J.

Relationship Between Dose and Apparent Volume of Distribution of Salicylate in Children

Gerhard Levy Phar. D.1 and Sumner J. Yaffe M.D.1

1 Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, and Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo

The apparent volume of distribution (Vd) of salicylate was determined in 11 children, 4 months to 16 years old, who had ingested from about 36 to over 340 mg of salicylic acid (mainly as aspirin) per kilogram of body weight. Vd was calculated from the amount of salicylate in the body at a given time (as determined by the amount of total salicylates excreted in the urine and, where applicable, removed in peritoneal dialysis fluid after that time) and the concentration of salicylate in the plasma at the same time. This method of calculation is ideal for the nonlinearly eliminated salicylic acid and does not require any assumptions with respect to the nature of the pharmacokinetic model for salicylate distribution. The Vd for salicylate in the children ranged from 162 to 345 ml/kg and was larger at the higher doses. Plots of salicylate concentration in plasma versus amount of drug in the body were usually linear for a given patient, showing that Vd remained relatively constant over the time course of elimination of the drug in the patients studied. This indicates that a given plasma salicylate concentration in children who have ingested large doses reflects a larger amount of salicylate in the body than the same plasma concentration in children who ingested smaller doses of the drug. These observations help to rationalize and emphasize the usefulness of the Done nomogram (which involves estimation of the theoretical zero time plasma salicylate concentration by back extrapolation) for assessing the severity of salicylate intoxication.

Submitted on March 11, 1974
Accepted on May 16, 1974