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Update 2026/2027 | 100% Correct |
Chamberlain
An infant is brought to the emergency department with the following clinical manifestations:
poor skin turgor, weight loss, lethargy, tachycardia, and tachypnea. This is suggestive of which
situation?
a. Water depletion
b. Water excess
c. Potassium excess
d. Sodium depletion
Answer: A
,Rationale: These clinical manifestations indicate water depletion or dehydration. Edema and
weight gain occur with water excess or over-hydration. Sodium or potassium excess would not
cause these symptoms.
What explains physiologically the edema formation that occurs with burns?
a. Increased capillary permeability
b. Decreased capillary permeability
c. Vasoconstriction
d. Diminished hydrostatic pressure within capillaries
Answer: A
Rationale: With a major burn, capillary permeability increases, allowing plasma proteins, fluids,
and electrolytes to be lost into the interstitial space, causing edema. Maximum edema in a small
wound occurs about 8 to 12 hr after injury. In larger injuries, the maximum edema may not occur
until 18 to 24 hr later. Vasodilation occurs, causing an increase in hydrostatic pressure.
,What is the most immediate threat to life in children with thermal injuries?
a. Shock
b. Anemia
c. Local infection
d. Systemic sepsis
Answer: A
Rationale: The immediate threat to life in children with thermal injuries is airway compromise
and profound shock. Anemia is not of immediate concern. During the healing phase, local
infection or sepsis is the primary complication.
What factor predisposes an infant to fluid imbalances?
a. Immature kidney functioning
b. Decreased surface area
c. Lower metabolic rate
, d. Decreased daily exchange of extracellular fluid
Answer: A
Rationale: The infant’s kidneys are functionally immature at birth and are inefficient in excreting
waste products of metabolism. Infants have a relatively high body surface area (BSA) compared
with adults. This allows a higher loss of fluid to the environment. A higher metabolic rate is
present as a result of the higher BSA in relation to active metabolic tissue. The higher metabolic
rate increases heat production, which results in greater insensible water loss. Infants have a
greater exchange of extracellular fluid, leaving them with a reduced fluid reserve in conditions of
dehydration.
What is the required number of milliliters of fluid needed per day for a 14 kg child?
a. 1200
b. 1100
c. 1300
d. 1400