Wildest lab values you've ever seen?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I was just wondering what's the most off the chart lab values (true values, not lab screw ups) that you'd encountered where the patient lived to discharge? I've seen:

Hgb 2.8 -- we just about emptied the blood bank.

PTT > 240

PT > 120

INR > 10

pO2 of 34 (by ABG) and the patient was fine, chatting the the doc. The human body is amazing in its ability to compensate over time. This patient had chronic lung disease for many years.

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Specializes in Oncology.

I've seen plt

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Specializes in Hospice.

INR 18

K+ >11

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Specializes in med-surg 5 years geriatrics 12 years.

Years ago woman came into ER with family. Constant drinking water and peeing. We took bets on blood sugar results. I won. She was 1310mg/dl and awake, alert, no ketones.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Ortho.

Vanc trough of 66.

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Specializes in Oncology/BMT.

Hgb of 3.8 in an adult sickle cell patient

INR of 14 in an elderly man who go his meds confused

K+ of 9.1

WBC of 410,000 and manual WBC of 6

Plt count of 1

I work in hem/onc so I see lots of labs that amaze me...

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Specializes in Burn, CCU, CTICU, Trauma, SICU, MICU.

Phos 0.3

Pt walked herself into the hospital in sustained VT.

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Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.

A mag level that came back at 0.5. Pt was fine other than an occasional arrthymia. Needless to say, they got a few grams of mag!

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing, Cardiology.

Not a lab value, but wild nonetheless:

A 16 second pause (asystole) on telemetry.

Pt. fell and hit her head at her nursing home. Came to us in the ED, had a CT of the head (WNL). The doc was about to discharge her when all of a sudden, asystole came across the monitor. She was unresponsive, then came to as her SA node kicked in, a nice sinus rhythm, and she opened her eyes and said, "What happened"? Went for an emergency pacemaker for sick sinus syndrome.

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.
Vanc trough of 66.

And the kidneys survived?

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Wbc .004 - bone marrow transplant and lived.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

K+ 8

Calcium 1.2

BUN 78

Every lab on this patient was way off. The patient died in the ER.....Rhabdomyolysis. Never have seen anything like it.

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