Approach to the Anemic Patient Flashcards
hemoglobin is a measurement of
- concentration of hemoglobin
hemoglobin type of measurement
- direct measurement
hematocrit is a measurement of
- volume of red cells per volume of blood
- given as a percentage
hematocrit type of measurement
- calculated value
- Hit = RBC x MCV
height of red cells divided by total height of the liquid in the tube
hematocrit compared to hemoglobin
- generally Hct is 3x hemoglobin
RBC type of measurement
- direct measurement
MCV is a measurement of
- red cell volume
- how big the red blood cells are
MCV type of measurement
- direct measurement
RDW measurement of
red cell distribution of width
- how much spread there is in MCVs of different red cells in patient’s body
iron deficiency cells change in RDW
- RDW gets wider
microcytic cells then transfusion - change in RDW
- RDW gets wider
anemia definition
- a decreased hemoglobin/hematocrit below the normal range for gender and age
anemia (manifestation of disease versus final diagnosis)
- anemia is a manifestation of disease not a final diagnosis
anemia leads to
- reduction of oxygen carrying capacity
acute blood loss leads to
- low blood volume
chronic, longstanding anemia leads to
- fluid retention
- increased blood volume
faster rate of change of hemoglobin will lead to
- more dramatic symptoms
if an anemic person is volume overloaded, but needs a transfusion, what do you do?
- give a diuretic first
most symptoms of acute hemorrhage in anemia related to
- hypovolemia
symptoms of hypovolemia
- hypotension
- orthostatic changes
- syncope
- shock
symptoms of tissue hypoxia
- fatigue
- shortness of breath
- cognitive difficulties
- ischemic pain
cardiac response to anemia
- increased heart rate
- increased cardiac output
vascular response to anemia due to acute blood loss and hypovolemia
- vasoconstriction
kidney response to chronic anemia
- retain salt and water to expand intravascular volume
