Week 3 - hematopoietic system diseases

Anemia - pathophysiology, non-regenerative vs regenerative, causes, symptoms, blood tests, nursing care

What is anaemia?

A condition marked by a deficiency of healthy red blood cells or haemoglobin, reducing oxygen transport to tissues.

What is the pathophysiology of anaemia?

A mismatch between the body’s demand and production of erythrocytes (red blood cells (RBC) means reduced numbers of erythrocytes and therefore less of the oxygen carrying protein haemoglobin, which leads to impaired oxygen delivery to tissues.

What can severe or prolonged anaemia lead to?

Organ dysfunction, weakness, collapse

What are causes of anaemia?

Haemorrhage, increased red blood cell destruction, decreased red blood cell production

What is regenerative anaemia?

The bone marrow is healthy and responds to the best of its abilities to correct the anaemia

What is a cause of regenerative anaemia?

Haemorrhage

What is non-regenerative anaemia?

The bone marrow doesn’t respond to anaemia and fails to reproduce adequate new RBCs

What is a cause of non-regenerative anaemia?

Suppression of bone marrow due to disease e.g. cancer infection, can be idiopathic

What are symptoms of anemia?

Lethargy, reduced exercise tolerance, pale MM, anorexia

What blood tests can be ran for anaemia?

PCV, TP, Blood Glucose, Blood smear, Blood lactate, Clotting time (ACT)

What is the nursing care for patients with anemia?

Monitoring and assessment, oxygen support, rest and stress reduction, fluid therapy, blood sampling and transfusion support, nutrition and hydration, treating underlying cause, ongoing observation