Monitoring & CPR · NEET PG Preparation Anaesthesia
A 45-year-old male is undergoing general anesthesia. During mechanical ventilation, the end-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO2) suddenly drops from 38 mmHg…
Practice question from Monitoring & CPR (NEET PG Preparation Anaesthesia), with the correct answer and a step-by-step solution.
medium · MCQ · Q-377E08
A 45-year-old male is undergoing general anesthesia. During mechanical ventilation, the end-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO2) suddenly drops from 38 mmHg to 12 mmHg accompanied by a sudden drop in mean arterial pressure. Which of the following is the most likely cause?
- A.Bronchospasm
- B.Malicious hypothermia
- C.Massive pulmonary embolism or cardiac arrestCorrect answer
- D.Esophageal intubation
Solution
A sudden, drastic drop in EtCO2 to near zero or very low levels along with hemodynamic collapse strongly indicates a sudden loss of pulmonary perfusion, most commonly due to massive pulmonary embolism, air embolism, or cardiac arrest.
More from Monitoring & CPR
- During CPR in an adult patient with an advanced airway in place, what is the recommended ventilation rate according to current AHA guidelin…
- Which of the following pulse oximetry phenomena is based on the principle that the pulsatile component (AC) of light absorption corresponds…
- A patient in the ICU suffers ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest. After high-quality CPR and the first delivery of a biphasic defibrill…
- Which invasive blood pressure monitoring transducer artifact occurs when the natural frequency of the monitoring system is close to the fre…
Practise more Anaesthesia
Sign up free for adaptive practice on this chapter, with instant feedback and hints on every question.
Start practising freeFree to start · No credit card needed