You are trying to get a pulse oximeter reading on an 18-month-old child with difficulty breathing. Every time you place the sensor on the child's finger, he becomes upset and removes it. What is your best course of action?

Question

Biology

Sydnee Warner

25 April, 01:06

You are trying to get a pulse oximeter reading on an 18-month-old child with difficulty breathing. Every time you place the sensor on the child's finger, he becomes upset and removes it. What is your best course of action?

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Answers (1)

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Finnegan Landry · Answer 1

The correct answer is: place the pulse oximeter in the baby's toe.

Explanation:

A pulse oximeter is a non-invasive medical device. It is used to determine the concentration of oxygen-linked haemoglobin flowing in through the peripheral arterial blood. It is generally used in those parts of the body where the skin is thin, like the finger tip of hand, toe tip or the ear lobe. The difference in the absorbance of infrared light by the haemoglobin molecules linked to oxygen and the haemoglobin molecules not linked to oxygen is used to determine the concentration of oxygen in the peripheral arterial blood. As the child has a difficulty in breathing so, it is obvious the amount of oxygen that all its body cells receive is far less than the amount of oxygen needed by them.