Some surgical critical care scenoarios

A 55-year-old man sustains numerous injuries involving the abdomen and lower extremities During the intra- and postoperative period he is resuscitated with 10 L of Ringer’s lactate and 2 U of packed red blood cells (RBC). After initial improvement, he has severe dyspnea on the second postoperative day. The most useful initial diagnostic test is which of the following?

(A) Electrocardiogram
(B) Analysis of arterial blood gas
(C) Insertion of a central venous line
(D) Ventilation-perfusion scan
(E) Computed tomography (CT) scan of abdomen

Code:

We should get his ABG. The patient has acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Measurement of ABGs provides initial evaluation of pulmonary function in terms of oxygenation and ventilation. ECG is valuable for diagnosing myocardial ischemia or cardiac arrhythmias. Ventilation perfusion scanning is used for diagnosing pulmonary embolism. Acentral venous line provides information regarding the volume status of the patient, which may be low to normal in ARDS.

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