I'm having difficulty coming up with a general algorithm to identify various complications that can cause changes to PaO2, PaCO2, sO2, etc. I understand that generally these changes are due to pulmonary/acid/base- is that it or are there other possibilities?
Also, is there an algorithm somewhere that comments on all the different causes for each lab value- such as hematocrit, [hb], etc? I know most of the causes- but during exam or questions, its a bit difficult to know if I've missed a key point anywhere along my line of thought.
Case in point, a question on gunnertraining gave a question on methemoglobinemia and showed that PaCO2 was below normal. I thought methemoglobinemia would not have an effect on PaCO2/O2 mmhg values and only have an effect on the oxygen binding curve....
so now I'm confused to whether I'm missing out on other key causes/changers to the abg/cbc values.
For some its kinda obvious- you won't expect changes to thyroid hormone levels to be due to some sort of ventilation shunt, but for values regarding oxygen, co2, hemoglobin etc. it can be a bit daunting.
Any links/or answers to my questions greatly appreciated...
Also, is there an algorithm somewhere that comments on all the different causes for each lab value- such as hematocrit, [hb], etc? I know most of the causes- but during exam or questions, its a bit difficult to know if I've missed a key point anywhere along my line of thought.
Case in point, a question on gunnertraining gave a question on methemoglobinemia and showed that PaCO2 was below normal. I thought methemoglobinemia would not have an effect on PaCO2/O2 mmhg values and only have an effect on the oxygen binding curve....
so now I'm confused to whether I'm missing out on other key causes/changers to the abg/cbc values.
For some its kinda obvious- you won't expect changes to thyroid hormone levels to be due to some sort of ventilation shunt, but for values regarding oxygen, co2, hemoglobin etc. it can be a bit daunting.
Any links/or answers to my questions greatly appreciated...
