Scenario one – next steps
A colleague hands you the patient’s ABG results. What do you do next? You decide to use the 5-step approach to analyse her ABG results. Roll over the image to enlarge it.
Step 1: You should ask how the patient is.
- Her reduced level of consciousness may impair oxygenation and ventilation. If this is the case, she may be hypoxic with an increased PaCO2 causing a respiratory acidosis
- There is unlikely to be much compensation (change in bicarbonate) because of the acuteness of the situation
You should then review at the ABG results. Take a look at them carefully. Roll over the ABG results to enlarge them.
You can find the 5-step approach in the Essentials tab if you need a reminder.
Select Next to continue.
References
See chapter 15 of the ALS manual for further reading about arterial blood gas analysis.
5-step approach to ABG interpretation
Step 1 – how is the patient?
Step 2 – is the patient hypoxaemic?
Step 3 – is the patient acidaemic or alkalaemic?
Step 4 – what happened to the PaCO2?
Step 5 – what has happened to the base excess or bicarbonate?
Settings
Font colour
default inverted high contrast high contrast inverted high contrast soft green on blackSample text
text looks like thisTEXT LOOKS LIKE THIS