SHORT REPORT

A comparison of two commonly used methods of weight estimation

J A W Argall, N Wright, K Mackway-Jones, R Jackson

Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr J A W Argall, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9WL, UK;
judith@fperryman.fsnet.co.uk

Accepted 1 December 2002

Keywords: weight estimation

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In the practice of emergency medicine, it is often necessary to know a child’s weight when planning therapeutic interventions. The majority of drug dosages are calculated on a per kilogram basis, as are resuscitative measures such as equipment sizing and fluid boluses. The most accurate method of determining a child’s weight is to weigh the child on scales. This "gold standard" should be obtained in all cases when possible. Unfortunately when resuscitating a critically ill child this is not always practicable. It is often more straightforward to use an estimation of their weight in these circumstances. However, staff members may be relatively inexperienced in which method of estimation to use, because of a lack of knowledge and confidence.

A number of methods have been developed to estimate the child’s weight in these circumstances. When "guesstimation" is used the accuracy is poor.¹ An alternative is to use a parental estimate. Several . . . [Full text of this article]

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Sandell, J M, Charman, S C (2009). Can age-based estimates of weight be safely used when resuscitating children?. Emerg. Med. J. 26: 43-47 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Krieser, D., Nguyen, K., Kerr, D., Jolley, D., Clooney, M., Kelly, A.-M. (2007). Parental weight estimation of their child's weight is more accurate than other weight estimation methods for determining children's weight in an emergency department?. Emerg. Med. J. 24: 756-759 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Luscombe, M., Owens, B. (2007). Weight estimation in resuscitation: is the current formula still valid?. Arch. Dis. Child. 92: 412-415 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Kemp, C. (2003). Estimating a child's weight. AAP News 23: 212-212 [Full Text]  

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