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not quite what it seems


zippyRN

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this is one for all skill levels to play

you are on duty in a medium sized town, it is a pleasent bank holiday Monday and there is a Carnival / parade in town

you are called to an 'unwell male'

on arrival at scene you find a 30 something year old male who is sat in his own self propelled wheelchair

R alert

A clear self maintained,

B present normal

C present , face appears a little flushed, mildly bradycardic,

D GCS 15 /15 upper limbs normal, lower limbs very weak

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Chief Complaint?

unwell, pounding frontal headache

Vitals (including skin temp/appearance)?

p 50 , bp 155/90 rr 16 , spo2 98%on room air t = 36.7, blood sugar 6.7 mmol

face, upper chest and arms quite flushed , lower limbs normal to pale

SAMPLE/OPQRST?

Allergies - none known

Meds

baclofen 10mg bd , movicol one sachet on, paracetamol 1 g PRN, lansoprazole 15 mg om , something else the patient can't remember as a PRN

PMH t 4 paraplegic folllwing motorcylce RTC - some lower limb fractures at the time - now all fixed reasonably , superpubic cather insertd during rehab

L - had a decent breakfast this morning, cereal, fruit juce, bacon cob, mug of tea, has had a bottle o water and a can of pop this morning while out

E - no particular events while out today - no new non trivial trauma

P - no particualr provoking factors for the pain - itl;s constant

Q - pounding / banging

R frontal headache

S 5/10

T head ache noticable about 30 minutes ago , patient;s partner noticed he looked flushed aobut 5 -10 minutes before call for help

Reason in wheel chair? Able to ambulate at all?

T4 paraplegic following motorcycle RTC 4 years ago , pretty much complete SCI can transfer can't stand without support due to near complete lesion and spasm

Check PMS of lower extrematies; compare to hx/reason in wheel chair and pt's (stated by him or family) normal PMS

no neurological changes from normal for patient

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How long has he been on movicol and lansoprazole for? What’s wrong with his stomach?

How long has the catheter been in for? Has he experienced any discharge/redness/swelling/tenderness around the insertion site?

Is he normally hypertensive?

What’s his temp?

What’s the ECG looking like?

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How long has he been on movicol and lansoprazole for? What’s wrong with his stomach?

nearly 4 years

How long has the catheter been in for?

has hada SPC for 3 and a half years, current catheter is a 12 week one and it;s been in 9 weeks

Has he experienced any discharge/redness/swelling/tenderness around the insertion site?

insertion site, clean ,dry and not inflammed

Is he normally hypertensive?

if any thing his BP is normally on the low side

What’s his temp?

not pyrexial

What’s the ECG looking like?

sinus brady

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Hmmm...

Any neuro problems?

Pupil reaction/size?

Motor-sensory issues?

I'd say the headache may be caused from the hypertension.

Is the brady normal?

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Hmmm...

Any neuro problems?

no new neuro

Pupil reaction/size?

normal size reactive

Motor-sensory issues?

normal for him , few more spasms than usual

I'd say the headache may be caused from the hypertension.

quite possibly

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Also, what's his skin turgor?

Urine Output?

Appearance of urine in cath bag?

he's not dehydrated he;'s had a glass of fruit juice and a mug of tea at breakfast and a 500 ml bottle of water and a '12 oz' can of pop since ...

however his urine bag is empty ... ( not leaking , emptied before breakfast - when it was nearly full )

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