Your patient had an open colon resection a week ago and developed a subsequent infection of their surgical incision. Now the patient's blood pressure has been dropping for the past 2 hours and is currently 89/65. What type of shock is the patient experiencing?
Distributive
Hypovolemic
Obstructive
Cardiogenic
The Correct Answer is A
A. This type of shock occurs when there is widespread vasodilation leading to a relative hypovolemia, often seen in conditions like sepsis. Given that the patient has a surgical site infection, this is a plausible consideration. However, distributive shock typically involves more than just hypotension, including symptoms like warm skin and possible fever.
B. This type of shock results from significant fluid loss, leading to inadequate circulating volume. It can occur after surgery due to bleeding or fluid loss, but the context here suggests that the primary issue is infection rather than direct fluid loss.
C. Obstructive shock happens when there is a physical obstruction to blood flow, such as in cases of pulmonary embolism or tension pneumothorax. There’s no indication of obstruction in this scenario related to the infection and hypotension.
D. This shock type occurs when the heart fails to pump effectively, often due to myocardial infarction or severe heart failure. The patient’s history does not suggest heart dysfunction, so this option is less likely.
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Related Questions
Correct Answer is A
Explanation
A. This type of shock occurs when there is widespread vasodilation leading to a relative hypovolemia, often seen in conditions like sepsis. Given that the patient has a surgical site infection, this is a plausible consideration. However, distributive shock typically involves more than just hypotension, including symptoms like warm skin and possible fever.
B. This type of shock results from significant fluid loss, leading to inadequate circulating volume. It can occur after surgery due to bleeding or fluid loss, but the context here suggests that the primary issue is infection rather than direct fluid loss.
C. Obstructive shock happens when there is a physical obstruction to blood flow, such as in cases of pulmonary embolism or tension pneumothorax. There’s no indication of obstruction in this scenario related to the infection and hypotension.
D. This shock type occurs when the heart fails to pump effectively, often due to myocardial infarction or severe heart failure. The patient’s history does not suggest heart dysfunction, so this option is less likely.
Correct Answer is C
Explanation
A. In iron deficiency anemia, serum iron levels are typically low due to a deficiency in iron. Additionally, the Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV) is often low because the red blood cells produced are smaller than normal (microcytic).
B. Similar to option A, serum iron levels in iron deficiency anemia would be low, not high. The MCV may be low or normal, but it would not be high due to the production of microcytic red blood cells.
C. In iron deficiency anemia, TIBC is usually high because the body is trying to maximize iron transport in response to low iron levels. Serum iron is low, and the MCV is low due to the production of smaller red blood cells.
D. This option is incorrect because option C accurately describes the expected lab results in iron deficiency anemia.
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