Alteration in cellular process Case Study Analysis Sample Nursing Paper
Scenario
A 42-year-old man comes to the clinic with a chief complaint of pain, redness, and swelling of his right calf. He states that he had been working in his yard using a string trimmer when the trimmer slipped and cut his leg. He cleaned the wound with water from the garden hose and covered the wound with a large Band-Aid. Several days later, he developed a fever of 100.6? F and chills and noticed that his leg was swollen and red. He comes to the emergency department for definitive care.(Alteration in cellular process Case Study Analysis Sample Nursing Paper)
Purpose statement: The purpose of this essay is to evaluate and analyze the presented case scenario.
Introduction
Following an injury, wound healing is a critical phase in tissue regeneration. While most wounds are easy to heal, some often result in adverse consequences such as inflammation, redness, and increased severity. Surface injuries often provide entry for pathogens to attack delicate body cells; thus, close interaction with medical personnel is necessary. This essay analyzes a presented case to explain the symptomology, genetic connections, immunosuppression, and the effect of the patient clinical status on body systems.(Alteration in cellular process Case Study Analysis Sample Nursing Paper)
Explain why you think the patient presented the symptoms described.
The patient cut himself with a trimmer, which could have harbored microorganisms. Besides, the patient used garden water without a disinfectant, further predisposing his wound for infection by waterborne pathogens. These microorganisms could be the cause of infection of the wound leading to the presented symptoms. Inflammation is often a body reaction to tissue or cellular injury. Typically, inflammation is symptomized with pain, redness, and swelling in the affected area (McCance & Huether, 2019) (Alteration in cellular process Case Study Analysis Sample Nursing Paper)as presented by the patient. The patient’s pain is a result of swelling caused by pressure from exudate buildup and biochemical mediators for wound healing such as bradykinin or prostaglandins. The patient’s fever results from cytokines – endogenous pyrogens, which interact with the body’s nervous and endocrine systems to modify defense against infection, causing the production of prostaglandins – the fundamental mediators of the regulated responses that contribute to fever. The patient’s symptoms could have been escalated by wound conditions that encouraged bacterial growth rather than host protection.(Alteration in cellular process Case Study Analysis Sample Nursing Paper)
Identify the genes that may be associated with the development of the disease.
The patient’s symptoms indicate a bacterial infection often characterized by swelling and redness of the lower legs. While host factors influence infection susceptibility, no studies are specifying particular genes influencing bacterial infection. Despite the limited studies on genes associated with bacterial infections, a genome-wide study conducted by Rogne et al. (2020) identified Solute Carrier Family 12 Member 2 to be associated with skin and soft tissue infections. However, specific factors such as tobacco use, overweight, and obesity exacerbate incidences of skin and soft tissue infections (Rogne et al., 2020).(Alteration in cellular process Case Study Analysis Sample Nursing Paper)
Explain the process of immunosuppression and the effect it has on body systems.
Immunosuppression refers to a condition in which the body’s immune system functions below the normal limit, leading to the inability to fight foreign antigens. Immunosuppression results from the death of immune receptor cells or obstruction of vital intracellular pathways for immune response. Besides, immunosuppression can result from certain diseases or medications that suppress the immune system (Bennett & Gilroy, 2017). Immunosuppressants affect certain inflammatory mediators involved in wound healing. Hypothermia, which can disrupt surgical wound healing processes and increase the risk of wound infection, is more likely in immunocompromised patients (Singh et al., 2017). Equally, reduced blood flow stymies wound healing, presumably preventing cells like platelets and monocytes from entering the site in diabetic patients.(Alteration in cellular process Case Study Analysis Sample Nursing Paper)
Conclusion
The patient in this case scenario presents symptoms associated with wound infection, including inflammation, redness, and pain in his leg. The wound infection diagnosis is supported by the patient’s use of garden water to clean the wound cut from a string trimmer(Alteration in cellular process Case Study Analysis Sample Nursing Paper). Both the trimmer and the trimmer could be a potential host for pathogens causing the infection. Host factors such as tobacco use, overweight, obesity, and Solute Carrier Family 12 Member 2 genes exacerbate wound infection. Equally, immunosuppression could be a predisposing factor for the patient’s wound infection and exacerbation.(Alteration in cellular process Case Study Analysis Sample Nursing Paper)
References
Bennett, M., & Gilroy, D. W. (2017). Lipid mediators in inflammation. Myeloid cells in health and disease: a synthesis, 343-366. https://doi.org/10.1128/microbiolspec.DMIH2-0026-2016
Hotchkiss, R. S., Moldawer, L. L., Opal, S. M., Reinhart, K., Turnbull, I. R., & Vincent, J. L. (2016). Sepsis and septic shock. Nature reviews Disease primers, 2(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2016.45
McCance, K. L., & Huether, S. E. (2019). Pathophysiology – E-book: The biologic basis for disease in adults and children (8th ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences.(Alteration in cellular process Case Study Analysis Sample Nursing Paper)
Rogne, T., Liyanarachi, K. V., Rasheed, H., Thomas, L. F., Flatby, H. M., Loset, M., … & Damas, J. K. (2020). Genome-wide association study of skin and soft tissue infection susceptibility. medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.03.20187468
Singh, S., Young, A., & McNaught, C. E. (2017). The physiology of wound healing. Surgery (Oxford), 35(9), 473-477. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mpsur.2017.06.004