Physicians' accuracy in manual computation.

Parenteral alimentation fluids are now part of routine nutritional support in the neonatal intensive care unit, and a number of software products are available to help physicians with the formulations. Use of these products is based on the assumption that an appreciable amount of error occurs during manual computation, but few attempts to measure this error have been reported. I performed a retrospective analysis of the accuracy of physicians' calculations of the formulas for parenteral alimentation fluid. In addition, I assessed the ability of our institution's computer-based parenteral alimentation program to correct the deficiencies identified. The study showed no significant differences between physicians' calculations as a whole and their paired ideal values. Individual errors did occur, however, and were large enough to have potential clinical importance. Use of the parenteral alimentation program was found to correct these errors.