vascular conditions

Question 1

what is atherosclerosis

Answer 1

• thickening/ hardening of arterial walls due to plaque formation
• plaque narrows arterial wall
• plaque becomes susceptible to rupture
• if it ruptures then a thrombus forms which further restricts the artery

Question 2

what is peripheral artery disease

Answer 2

• A circulatory condition in which narrowed blood vessels reduce blood flow to the limbs
• plaque rupture and thrombus formation leads to arterial occlusion which leads to ischemic (decreased blood flow) and/ or infarction (tissue death)

Question 3

what are signs and symptoms or peripheral artery disease

Answer 3

• pain, intermittent claudication (pain with increase activity/ movement)
• skin changes
• ulceration
• decreased pulse
• gangrene

Question 4

what is deep vein thrombosis

Answer 4

• formation of a thrombosis (blood clot) in a deep vein (mostly in limbs)

Question 5

what causes deep vein thrombosis

Answer 5

• endothelial damage
• blood stasis (decreased blood flow/ blood pooling sluggish flow)
• hyper coagulability (increased clotting activity)

Question 6

thrombus causes localized inflammation which can;

Answer 6

• naturally breakdown
• become organised (clot starts to infiltrate the wall)
• become dislodged which causes pulmonary embolism which goes into the heart to the pulmonary artery towards the lungs where it goes through smaller and smaller arteries until it gets stuck and blood flow stops

Question 7

what is the calculation for drip rates

Answer 7

IV flow rate= IV amount in mL x giving set (divided by) hours x 60