I hate it when shows get medical stuff wrong
-
This is a minor, minor detail in a show I'm watching. Some guy is in the hospital, having survived a GSW to the head. His only symptom is amnesia.
As ridiculous as it is, that's not my point.
This is.
I spent decades looking at similar screens and waveforms.
So, from to to bottom, we have the following:
- An EKG tracing reflecting a heart rate of 67. So far, so good.
- The next number, 97, is presumably the SaO2. That's good too, but the waveform is totally wrong.
- The next number(s) 122/68 is blood pressure. And that's fine. The waveform to the left of those numbers looks like an intra-arterial line. That would be fine too, if the patient had an intra-arterial line - which he doesn't.
- I have no idea what the "78" is. Next to it is a tracing that looks like an arterial waveform. I suppose it could be a pulmonary artery waveform, but 78 is high for that system. Really high. Also, if that were the case, there should be a diastolic number - so like 78/30
- Finally, the 35 is probably his end-tidal CO2. 35 is a normal, and good number. But you'd only be able to measure it if the patient had a CO2 monitoring device on his airway - and he doesn't. It also looks FAR too regular to be a spontaneous breathing patient. It looks a lot like a ventilator capnograph (CO2 tracing).
Sorry 'bout the rant.
-
As a kid I was always fascinated by this...
!
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login