Maintenance fluid requirement for an 8 kg infant is 32 mL/hr. How many mL would be delivered in 6 hours?

• A. 192 mL
• B. 128 mL
• C. 256 mL
• D. 160 mL

Answer: (A)

Maintenance fluids for a pediatric patient are found by multiplying the hourly maintenance rate by the number of hours the fluids are given. For an 8 kg infant, the standard maintenance rate is 4 mL per kg per hour, so 8 × 4 = 32 mL per hour. Over 6 hours, the total delivered volume is 32 mL/hr × 6 hr = 192 mL.

Other timeframes would yield different totals (for example, 4 hours would be 128 mL, 5 hours would be 160 mL, and 8 hours would be 256 mL), but for 6 hours the correct amount is 192 mL.