A patient is intubated and is receiving mechanical ventilation on the pressure control A/C mode at a rate of 10/min and peak pressure of 35 cm H2O. Her ABG results are as follows:
belongs to book: ABG PRACTICE QUESTIONS|Respiratory Therapy Zone|| Chapter number:1| Question number:35
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Medicine
First and foremost, we have to interpret the ABG results. The pH is low. The PaCO2 is high. The SaO2, HCO3, and BE are all within the normal range. This tells us that the patient has acute respiratory acidosis with normal oxygenation.
This means that the patient is hypoventilating, which is what is causing the increased PaCO2. So in order to blow over some of that CO2, you simply need to increase the rate. The correct answer has to be B.
The correct answer is: B. Increase the rate
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