Bill Flashcards
What is part of Bill’s patient profile?
He is homeless - been sleeping rough for 4 years
He is a smoker (rolls up his cigarettes)
Keeps his cuff links - wants to get better
What does the case video say about Bill when they found him?
Showed up late a night to a homeless shelter, he was groggy, they think he’s a drinker and a smoker (not sure about drugs)
He wasn’t woken up by a fire alarm at 2:30am at the homeless shelter (false alarm), v. difficult to rouse, non-verbal
Ambulance was then called - arrival at the scene he was drowsy
What does the case video say about Bill’s stats at arrival?
GCS of E3, V4, M6 (this fluctuates) Both pupils 3mm, unreactive Temperature = 37.4; BP = 89/65; HR = 97; RR = 14; O2 sats at arrival were 90% Unknown past medical history His BGL is 4.2
What had the paramedics done before his admission to hospital?
Glucogel given
One cannula in the right AVF
500ml of fluids to bring his systolic to 105
2L of O2 so sats are now at 94%
What did the paramedic find on Bill?
Smoking papers
Papers with number on
Smells of alcohol
What did his letter say?
He is susceptible to infections
He smokes
He finds it hard to get a decent meal - poor diet
Poor mental health
What do we see in Bill?
Altered mental state
Mental state consists of what two parts?
- Consciousness (attentiveness)
2. Cognition (mental proecsses / thinking)
How would you work out what is happening with Bill?
Use the symptom sieve
What is the symptom sieve used by the doctor?
Primary neurological Infection Cardiorespiratory Gastro-intestinal Metabolic/Endocrine Toxins Psychiatric
What are the most likely categories from the symptom sieve that apply to Bill?
Neurological - trauma
Infection - has been sleeping rough for 4 years
Cardio-resp - low BP and sats
Toxins likely - alcoholism, may use drugs
Psychiatric - disorientated, letter stated low confidence
GI - alcohol poisoning, poor diet, distended abdomen, pancreatitis, appendicitis
What is GCS?
So then what is meant by - E3 V4 M6?
Glasgow Coma Scale E = eye-opening response V = verbal response to commands M = motor response The higher the number, the more responsive
What is an A-E assessment? What does it look at?
Carried out on unwell patients to assess their vitals A - Airway B - Breathing C - Circulation D - Disability E - Exposure
What would an Airways assessment show in Bill?
Who could you call when examining airways?
Verbalising intermittently
No foreign objects in mouth or excessive secretions
No snoring / stridor
No mouth or tongue swelling
An anaesthetist who are experts in airway management
What observations can you make about Bill’s breathing?
What do you look at in the neck as a part of the breathing assessment?
Normal resp. rate (14 breaths per min) Slight wheeze (stridor) when examining abdomen He was distressed 90% sats but 94% on 2L oxygen Smoker
Look at the muscles in the neck e.g. scalene
What can you exclude when assessing breathing?
Exclude trauma to neck
C3,C4,C5 keeps the diaphragm alive
What else is important when assessing breathing and how can this be noticed?
Smoking history - nicotine stained fingernails
What did the circulation assessment show in Bill?
Blood pressure - 89/64 mm Hg
Heart rate - 110 bpm
Heart sounds - normal
12 lead ECG - sinus tachycardia nil. ischaemic changes
Peripheral capillary refil brisk bilaterally ( more than 3-4 secs)
Warm peripheries, looks flushed
What is most concerning about the circulation assessment?
Blood pressure is low
High heart rate is normal response
Worry about shock and its consequences
How do you conduct a capillary refill test?
Lift patients hand to heart level
Place pressure on the fingernail see how long it takes for colour to return
Why does Bill look warm and flushed?
Perhaps alcohol increasing blood in the peripheries
Infection / sepsis
What are the 4 types of shock and how are they characterised?
Which is most common?
Hypovolemic - too low blood volume
Cardiogenic - anything (e.g. pressure issue, cardiomyopathy, infarction) that impairs the heart generating pressure leading to inadequate tissue perfusion, which causes shock
Obstructive - Something physically obstructs the vessels preventing perfusion
Distributive - excessive vasodilation (Pressure = CO x total peripheral resistance), anything that causes massive vasodilation = fall in total peripherial resistance = fall in pressure
Hypovolemic shock = most common
What are the three types of distributive shock?
Septic
Anaphylactic - anaphylaxis = histamine release = vasodilation
Neurogenic
How does distributive shock come about?
Vasodilation
TPR (total peripheral resistance) falls
Blood pressure falls
Inadequate perfusion
How does shock lead to death?
Tissues not adequately perfused = organ failure = death
What did the disability assessment show in Bill?
Blood glucose - 5.7 Temperature - 38.2 ACVPU (alert, confusion, voice, pain, unresponsive) = confusion GCS: E3 V4 M5 (adds up to 12) Moving four limbs normally PEARL - 3mm Smells of alcohol
What did the exposure assessment show in Bill?
No rashes No sites of infection / track marks No evidence of trauma to limbs or head No evidence of external bleeding Abdominal examination - abdomen distended, tender in left illiac fossa
Dr Patel wrote in her notes:
Impression - sepsis, altered mental state likely due to that but need to consider alcohol, delirium, drugs and intracranial pathology
Plan - sepsis management, investigate source of sepsis, CT to rule out intracranial pathology
Why does Dr Patel think Bill has sepsis?
Developing high temperature (may or may not have in sepsis) Difficult to wake/Sleepier than normal Altered mental state Oxygen to maintain above 92% sats Low blood pressure From shelter/streets - poor hygiene
All other shocks = pale and weak, and not much change in temp
What is important about observations?
They are not static
Must be reviewed regularly
Compared to previous
Bill's labs show: Raised CRP - 203 (normal = <5) Raised creatinine - 145 (normal = 59-104) Raised urea - 9.2 (normal = 2.5-7.8) Raised GGT - 74 (normal = 0-60) Raised lactate - 3.1 (normal = 0.5-2.2) Ethanol - positive in serum Raised WBC - 15.3 (normal = 4.2-10.6) Raised neut - 9.8 (normal = 2.0-7.1)
Which of these abnormal results are indicative of sepsis?
What should be investigated with the raised creatinine?
He has a high neutrophil count, high WBC, high creatinine – muscle damage can raise it, or indicative or kidney failure
Check for muscle damage, and intracranial bleeds
What is SIRS?
How is it diagnosed?
Systemic inflammatory response syndrome
By two or more symptoms including fever or hypothermia, tachycardia, tachypnoea (abnormally rapid breathing) and change in WBC count
What is the flowchart for septic shock?
SIRS
Sepsis
Severe Sepsis
Septic Shock