The nurse is concerned that a patient recovering from a thyroidectomy is developing hypocalcemia. What findings did the nurse use to come to this conclusion? Select all that apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A.
Contraction of the facial muscles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
B.
Complaints of fingers tingling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
C.
Carpal spasm with blood pressure measurement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
D.
Asked when the foot numbness would go away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Correct answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The correct answers are A, B, and C<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Explanation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After a thyroidectomy, patients are at risk for hypocalcemia due to potential damage to the parathyroid glands, which regulate calcium levels in the blood. The nurse’s assessment focuses on specific clinical signs indicative of hypocalcemia:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A. Contraction of the facial muscles.<\/strong> B. Complaints of fingers tingling.<\/strong> C. Carpal spasm with blood pressure measurement.<\/strong> D. Asked when the foot numbness would go away.<\/strong> In conclusion, the presence of facial muscle contractions, tingling in fingers, and carpal spasms are specific signs of hypocalcemia that warrant further evaluation and potential intervention in the postoperative thyroidectomy patient.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The nurse is concerned that a patient recovering from a thyroidectomy is developing hypocalcemia. What findings did the nurse use to come to this conclusion? Select all that apply. A.Contraction of the facial muscles. B.Complaints of fingers tingling. C.Carpal spasm with blood pressure measurement. D.Asked when the foot numbness would go away. The Correct answer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142991\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
This symptom is known as Chvostek’s sign. It occurs when the facial nerve is stimulated, causing involuntary twitching of the facial muscles, particularly in response to tapping over the facial nerve. A positive Chvostek’s sign indicates neuromuscular excitability, often associated with low calcium levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tingling sensations, or paresthesia, especially in the fingers, are common early signs of hypocalcemia. The patient may describe feelings of numbness or tingling, which can occur in other extremities or around the mouth. This symptom arises from increased neuronal excitability due to decreased calcium levels, affecting nerve conduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This symptom is indicative of Trousseau’s sign, which can manifest during blood pressure measurement using a sphygmomanometer. If the blood pressure cuff is inflated for a few minutes, the patient may experience a carpal spasm (the wrist flexes and fingers curl), reflecting significant hypocalcemia and neuromuscular irritability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While foot numbness may be concerning, it is less specific to hypocalcemia compared to the other symptoms. It can result from a variety of causes, including nerve compression or circulation issues, making it a less reliable indicator for the nurse\u2019s assessment of hypocalcemia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n