Assessment2 – Case study 2 a
Topic: Respiratory System
(11-14 references); APAGth style CDU referencing
The following is a case
study with four questions. You are required to respond to all four questions.
Response to each question should not exceed 250 words and
the length of the entire assignment is 1000 words.
CASE STUDY
Geronimo is a 12-year-old boy Iiv es in Melbournewith asthma
diagnosed at age , For the last 10 days Geronimo has been experiencing an upper respiratorytract infection with unresolved cough and
breathlessness. He has been taking cough syrup but this has not improved his symptoms. He also had run out of his usual asthma medication
salbutamol (2 puffs per night) for three aysr It was late November and there was a huge thunderstorm two days ago,
Geronimo presented to
hos ital with an exacerbation of asthma- On presentation, he was speaking in phrases, his heart rate was 130 beats/minute, respiratory rate i
(RR? was 25 breaths per minute. His SpO2 was 94% on room air and he had an audible wheeze. His FEVl was 1 64 L (5596 of predicted)
Geronimo was administered salbutamol 100 pg 10 puffsvia a pressurised metered dose inhaler and spacer and oral prednisolone
0.5mg/kg.
He responded relatively quickly to the treatment; his RR decreased to 21 breaths/minute and he could talk in paragraphs. He
remained tachycardic but his FEVI improved to 2.2 L (74°16 of predicted value). demonstrating a significant bronchodilator response of
34%.
His mother who was also present prov rded a history of Geronimo’s asthma. 8oth Geronimo and his mother initially reported that
Geronimo was well until he caught a co Ida However, when probing specifically about his asthma symptoms and overall control Geronimo
acknowledged that he had, difficultly playing sport especially during his soccer games on Saturda ys; he wheezed and coughed when laughing. he z
avorded running around With hrs mates to prevent symptoms,
His mother reported that while he might have missed about 10 days of school in
the last 12 months. due to a bad cough when he had colds, he was otherwise well apart from the normal cough he gets.
1. Describe the
probable reasonsfor Geronimo’s acute exacerbation of asthma.
2. Based on the history provided by Geronimo and his mother, determine
which classification of asthma Geronimo’s asthma fits.
3. Explain the results of his spirometry test. An arterial blood gas (ABG) testing
is recommend by atjunior doctor for Geronimo, do you agree with this suggestion?
4. Describe the dif erentforms of asthma medication and
when each should be used,