Question

George Kent is a 54 year old widower with a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and was rushed to the emergency department with increasing shortness of breath, pyrexia, and a productive cough with yellow-green sputum. He has difficulty in communicating because of his inability to complete a sentence. One of his sons, Jacob, says he has been unwell for three days. Upon examination, crackles and wheezes can be heard in the lower lobes; he has a tachycardia and a bounding pulse. Measurement of arterial blood gas shows pH 7.3, PaCO2 68 mm Hg, HCO3 28 mmol/L, and PaO2 60 mm Hg. How would you interpret this?

Answer 1

Answer:

The patient has a pulmonar infection.

Explanation:

The values of the blood gas indicates respiratory acidosis (high PaC02, low Pa02 aparenttly compensed). The tachicardia is dued to the respiratory insufficiency and the fever. Since the patient´s son is not feeling well either, and taking into the account that crackles and wheezes can be heard in the lower lobes, the most likely for this person has a pulmonar infection, probably he contracted pneumonia