Health Variation 4 - Acute Life Threatening Conditions

Running head: HEALTH VARIATION 4 1
Health Variation 4 – Acute Life Threatening Conditions
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HEALTH VARIATION 4 2
Health Variation 4 – Acute Life-Threatening Conditions
Q. 1 The clinical presentation of UTIs involves various signs or symptoms. The chief
complaint by affected patients is a painful sensation when urinating (Artero et al., 2018). Mr.
Kirkman is a 75-year old male who reports a burning sensation during urination and lower
abdominal pain. Mr. Kirkman’s history gives a clue about his current condition. Mr. Kirkman’s
old age and previous UTI recurrence are risk factors that may have triggered the diagnosis of
urinary tract infection. Besides, his chronic bronchitis shows dictate the presence of
compromised immunity. Mr. Kirkman’s condition deteriorates twenty-four hours following his
placement on IV NaCl, IV Sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, and insertion of an indwelling
catheter. His situation is an indicator of UTI with severe sepsis. Symptoms such as high
temperature, rapid breathing, and rapid pulse rate characterize severe sepsis (Artero et al., 2018).
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that occurs in the body due to an inflammatory
response to infections. In such scenarios, the body releases proinflammatory mediators into the
blood to fight infections or wounds (Xu et al., 2017). In patients with urinary tract infections,
their bodies release cytokines to fight bacterial infections, often caused by Escherichia coli and
Proteus mirabilis. Notably, inflammatory responses are the underlying cause of severe sepsis in
patients with UTI, and the cause of flushed faces. The proinflammatory mediators trigger the
permeability of blood capillaries, which causes the dilation of blood vessels to allow the
movement of mediators to the sites of infection(Xu et al., 2017). As a result, the blood pressure
drops, and it is evident in Mr. Kirkman’s low blood pressure:80/42mmHg in response to the
dilation mechanism.
The changes in a patient’s oxygenation status may indicate sepsis in response to
infections. Under septic conditions, the respiratory rates rise to compensate for the reduced

HEALTH VARIATION 4 3
oxygen levels in tissues and vital organs. The respiratory rates increase to reduce CO2 levels and
maintain a normal pH. It is evident in Mr. Kirkman’s situation whose respiratory rate is 35.
Besides, the reference range of pulse oximeter readings (SPO2) is between 94% to 100% (Serpa,
Schultz, & Festic, 2015). The readings dictate the saturation of hemoglobin with oxygen in
peripheral arterial blood. Values before the minimum range are deliberated as low, and it occurs
in response to poor organ oxygenation status, just as in Mr. Kirkman’s situation whose SPO2
reading is 82%.
More also, the severity of a septic condition affects the sinus rhythm or heartbeat that
starts at the sinus node. The reference range for a normal is between 60 to 100 beats per minute;
however, these values may be higher in patients with severe sepsis that arise as a result of the
progression of UTI infections. Under septic conditions, just as in Mr. Kirkman’s condition, the
heart’s ventricular contractions try to increase blood supply to the sinus node and other organs in
response to ischemia (Joyner, & Casey, 2015) The patient uses the accessory muscles while
breathing to boost his inspiratory capacity.
The primary survey on examination of Mr. Kirman’s state after 24 hours indicates that he
is speaking in single words. As evident from the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Mr. Kirkan’s
verbal response of 4 dictates that he is experiencing a disoriented conversation; however, an
overall GSC value of 13 shows that the patient has a minor injury. The GCS scale measures eye-
opening (E), verbal (V), and motor (M) responses: it quantifies a patient’s neurological
dysfunction after an injury (Seymour et al., 2016). The patient’s E4, V4, M5 shows that his eye-
opening is spontaneous, shows disoriented conversation and localizes to pain. Besides, the
progression of the urinary tract infections to bladders causes pain on the lower abdomen. Pain
arises from inflammation when the body releases the immune cells to fight infections. From the