A 14 year old female presents to the emergency department via ambulance with agitation and drowsiness. An arterial blood gas is taken.
Question
| a. | Describe and interpret her the results | (100%) |
Answer
FACEM VAQ Exam 2005.1 – Question 1
- The overall pass rate for this question was 39 / 44 (88.6%).
- Examiners expected that candidates would provide a comprehensive description that included comment on the respiratory acidosis, metabolic acidosis, elevated anion gap and calculation of the A-a gradient.
- It was expected that clinically relevant (for a 14yo girl) unifying differential diagnoses would be provided rather than separate diagnoses for the respiratory acidosis or metabolic acidosis alone.
- A pass could be gained by a sound description and interpretation but better answers formulated a clinically relevant differential diagnosis which confirmed understanding of the concepts involved.
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