What is the pediatric dose for dextrose when treating hypoglycemia?

• A. 5-10 mL/kg
• B. 1-2 mL/kg
• C. 0.5-1 mL/kg
• D. 20 mL/kg

Answer: (A)

In pediatric hypoglycemia you treat with a fixed amount of glucose scaled to the child’s weight: 0.5 g of dextrose per kilogram of body weight. When using a 10% dextrose solution, that translates to about 5 mL per kilogram (since 10% dextrose is 0.1 g per mL, and 0.5 g/kg ÷ 0.1 g/mL = 5 mL/kg). In practice, many EMS and PEPP-style guidelines present a range of 5–10 mL/kg to account for slight concentration differences and the need to reassess after the bolus. So the listed volume range aligns with delivering the target 0.5 g/kg dose using commonly available concentrations.

If you know the exact concentration, you can adjust precisely: 2 mL/kg of 25% dextrose also delivers 0.5 g/kg, or 1 mL/kg of 50% dextrose delivers 0.5 g/kg.