Make sure you own the abg.

For the second fellowshipexam.com microblog we thought we’d have a look at a recent question published by the college from the first new exam paper.

A 55 year old female patient is brought by ambulance to the emergency department after being involved in a high speed MVA. The pelvic x-ray from her trauma series is reproduced (in the previous question, showing an open pelvis).

Massive transfusion has been administered while waiting for the retrieval team to provide transfer to the local level 1 trauma centre. An arterial blood gas has been performed.

pH              7.20
pCO2          30
PO2            58
HCO3         14
Na+           140
K+              6.0
Cl-             100

In the context of the case we are asked two specific questions:

"The most important thing is to have a consistent, well drilled approach to questions such as these, so that the number of marks garnered (and therefore the candidate’s chance of passing) is maximized."

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