Help with A&P II question (Studying for midterm exam)

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Help! I am studying for my midterm exam for A&P II, and can't seem to come up with a starting point for answering this question.

A 60 year-old is unable to walk more than 100 yards without experiencing severe pain in this left leg; the pain is relieved by resting 5-10 minutes. He is told that the arteries of his legs are becoming occluded with fatty material and is advised to have the sympathetic nerves serving that part of the body severed. Explain how such a surgery might help relieve this man's pain. Why would this fatty material deposition in the arteries cause pain?

Any helpful beginning would be greatly appreciated. (Cross posted.)

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Specializes in LTC, Nursing Management, WCC.

Research peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3020257

Why the nerve?

Look up sympathectomy

Why pain?

↓ blood flow (ischemia) to muscles and nervesà ↑ accumulation of byproducts in tissues which irritates nerves

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

this is intermittent claudication due to atheroclerosis. now that that know the name of the condition and disease you can look up information about it and it's treatment from any of the internet websites that are listed on this thread:

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I would like to say thanks to both of you. I did some research for the suggested topics and was able to figure out how I would answer this question should it come up on my midterm today.

I'm actually a little more relieved now, knowing that I have researched all 30 of the proposed essay questions. :)

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

Our physiology professor in my ADN program 30+ years ago did the same thing. He gave us 30 essay questions ahead of time. We would have 40, however, on the actual final and have to choose something like 15 of them to answer. We had to bring a Blue Book to class to write our answers in. He was a true professor with a PhD and all. We loved him to death as he, more than any of our other instructors, was available and willing to spend time talking and discussing any subject with us. He was immensely interested in helping train nurses. He was a wonderful man whose father had been a physician. But his tests were hard! If you got an "A" you earned it.

Good luck on your exam. :studyowl: Please remember and use those links I gave you. They will come in handy for nursing classes as well. That's what they are for! It's very hard to just find the straight pathophysiology of any particular disease on the Internet.

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Specializes in LTC, Nursing Management, WCC.
I would like to say thanks to both of you. I did some research for the suggested topics and was able to figure out how I would answer this question should it come up on my midterm today.

I'm actually a little more relieved now, knowing that I have researched all 30 of the proposed essay questions. :)

You are more than welcome. Patho is very interesting and quite logical (for the most part) :)

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Specializes in ER.

you are so smart! i love all your answers and rationales

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