leukocytosis

[melanie1126]

What particular symptoms (besides elevated WBC) would you expect to see in a patient with leukocytosis and what would you be looking for during assessment?

[leslie :-D]

What particular symptoms (besides elevated WBC) would you expect to see in a patient with leukocytosis and what would you be looking for during assessment?

leukocytosis is typically a response to a variety of infections and/or inflammatory processes. less typical would be cancer, some meds (steroids, lithium), physical stress (seizures, overexertion) and even emotional distress. obviously if you're caring for a pt w/ca such as leukemia, the wbc will be off the charts.

so you need to figure out some common s/s you would expect to see when treating a pt w/infection or inflammation. good luck.

leslie

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

The elevated white count itself usually doesnt cause any symptoms on its own. The symptoms you see result from the cause of the leukocytosis. The two common ones that come to mind are infection and leukemia. So for infection you'd assess for fever, any pain, cough, etc. For leukemia you're looking for fatigue, easy bruising, bone pain, things of that nature.

[meownsmile, BSN, RN]

You might want to look for an enlarged spleen and liver function studies.