A 4-year-old involved in a motor vehicle crash arrives with tachycardia of 160 beats/min, blood pressure of 62/40 mmHg, mottled and pale skin, capillary refill of 5 seconds, and a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 10. Which best describes this child's condition?

Question

TheoryPractice · Accepted Answer

Decompensated shock. Decompensated shock is present when compensatory mechanisms fail and blood pressure falls below the fifth percentile for age, accompanied by signs of severely impaired perfusion; a systolic BP of 62 mmHg is clearly hypotensive for a 4-year-old (normal lower limit approximately 70 + 2× age = 78 mmHg).

A 4-year-old involved in a motor vehicle crash arrives with tachycardia of 160 beats/min, blood pressure of 62/40 mmHg, mottled and pale skin, capillary refill of 5 seconds, and a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 10. Which best describes this child's condition?

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