The following haemodynamic and metabolic data were obtained from a patient admitted to the ICU with sepsis.
Pulmonary artery catheter data:
Indirect calorimetry data:
a) Why is the VO2 different between the two methods? (Assume no measurement errors.)
b) What changes in patient management will you consider based on the indirect calorimetry data?
a) Indirect calorimetry also measures lung oxygen consumption.
b) A high RQ suggests excess carbohydrate load. Reduce caloric intake and consider changing to a higher fat intake.
This question is identical to Question 25.4 from the second paper of 2010.
Indirect calorimetry and the reverse Fick method are discussed in detail elsewhere.