ABSTRACT
A 67-year-old woman presents to accident and emergency after having a fall. She is diagnosed with a fractured neck of femur which is fixed with a hemiarthroplasty. She also suffers from metastatic breast cancer. Four days postoperatively, she develops shortness of breath with an increased respiratory rate of 24 breaths per minute. The doctor on call takes an arterial blood gas sample which shows the following results:
pH 7.48 PaO2 15.4 kPa on 2 L of oxygen pCO2 2.6 kPa Base excess +1 Saturations 99 per cent
What does the blood gas show?
