A patient with a head injury has a pO2 of 88 and a pCO2 of 58. The nurse realizes that which physiologic process will occur in this patient?
1. Cerebral blood vessels will constrict.
2. Cerebral blood vessels will dilate.
3. Blood flow to the cerebral cortex will slow.
4. Blood will be shunted from the cerebral cortex.
2
Rationale 1: This is not an expected physiologic response to the patient's oxygen and carbon dioxide levels.
Rationale 2: Autoregulation ensures that cerebral blood vessels dilate in response to a perceived increase in requirements for cerebral blood flow such as when there is a drop in cerebral oxygen levels or an increase in cerebral carbon dioxide levels.
Rationale 3: This is not an expected physiologic response to the patient's oxygen and carbon dioxide levels.
Rationale 4: This is not an expected physiologic response to the patient's oxygen and carbon dioxide levels.
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