Question

Patient is in the surgical intensive care unit following a motor vehicle crash in which she sustained severe internal injuries, including a fractured liver. The patient has lost a lot of blood and has been given multiple transfusions and is now on life support. BP is 90/60, HR is 120, RR is 16 (mechanical ventilator), cardiac output is 4 L, and hemoglobin is 8 g%. Based on this patient information and your knowledge of oxygen transport, answer the following questions.

1. How is the total oxygen delivery to the tissues be affected?

2. How is the arterial-venous oxygen content difference be affected?

3. What changes would one expect to see in oxygen consumption?

Answer 1

1.As the patient is in shock, the blood supply to various organs and tissues will be decreased enormously. Since the hemoglobin is the carrier of oxygen to the tissues, oxygen availability to the tissue depends on the hemoglobin concentration. As the patient is having hemoglobin of 8g/dl obviously the oxygen transport to the tissues will be decreased.

2.When the patient is in shock, arterial and venous oxygen concentration are decreased.

3.Oxygen consumption will be increased because body is in a state of stress to combat the shock.