Medical terminology

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While cycling to work in the morning , John , a thirty three year old man was involved in an accident where he sustained severe damage to his head . John was confused but by the time he got to the hospital he had become unconscious . Upon admission to the hospital , John was assessed with the normal ABCDE sequence to detect problems such as obstruction of the airway or respiratory arrest which would be fatal if untreated . In severe head injury , respiratory obstruction can cause hypoxia and

br hypercapnia . Raised carbon dioxide levels combined with leakage of cerebrospinal fluid can lead to elevated intracranial pressure which has the potential to cause secondary damage that is severe (Smeltzer et al 2009 , pp1938 . A Glasgow Coma Scale was also done , he scored 8 (Tolias 2008 , pp1 . He was in a semi-comatose state

The initial assessment involved monitoring of vital signs to ensure they are within normal limits . A blood pressure within normal limits is very vital in a patient with increased intracranial pressure . A secondary assessment was also done to exclude any other injuries that could be present . Hypotension increases the mortality for any patient with severe head injury by up to seventy per cent or more in some cases (Smeltzer et al , 2009

John was reviewed by the anesthetist in the accident department . Due to his low GCS score he was intubated so that he could be easily ventilated to ensure that his airway remained clear and he was fully...