Question

You are working yet another awesome amazing day in the ED when in comes a trauma patient. You find yourself administering blood to this patient. You carefully run the fluid really slowly at 5ml/min for the first fifteen minutes before you raise the rate some. Suddenly your patient's heart rate jumps up to 135. The patient sits up a little bit and says I feel like there is something heavy in my chest. He's having labored breathing. You stop the transfusion and hear crackles in the lung bases. What reaction do you suspect? A) Allergic Reaction B) Delayed Hemolytic Reaction C) Hemolytic Reaction D) Circulatory Overload

Answer 1

The reaction suspected in this case is Circulatory Overload.

Step-by-step explanation:

The reaction that is suspected in this case is Circulatory Overload. When blood is administered too quickly, it can overload the circulatory system and cause symptoms such as increased heart rate, labored breathing, and crackles in the lung bases. This is known as circulatory overload or transfusion-associated circulatory overload (TACO). TACO can occur when large volumes of blood or fluids are rapidly infused, especially in patients with heart or kidney problems.

Learn more about Circulatory Overload