Question

Assessment of an older adult client reveals bilateral pitting edema of the client's feet and ankles; difficult to palpate pedal pulses; breath sounds clear on auscultation; oxygen saturation level of 93% (0.93); and vital signs normal. What is this client's most likely health problem?

Answer 1

Right-sided heart failure

Step-by-step explanation:

Heart failure is different from patient to patient and the parts of the heart affected, the resulting symptoms and the time course of the onset of heart failure can vary greatly. For this reason, different medical terms are used to describe exactly the different types of heart failure.

In right-sided heart failure, the right pumping chamber or ventricle, which pumps blood to the lungs, is compromised. This could be due to a muscle injury such as a heart attack in the right ventricle, valve damage on the right side of the heart or high pressure in the lungs. In this case, although the patient has normal vital signs, he may have foot or ankle rash, oxygen saturation level of 0.93, clear breathing on auscultation, among other symptoms. With this, we can conclude that the patient exposed in the question above probably has heart failure on the right side.