A 65-Year-Old Man Is Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit

question 230

Multiple Choice

A 65-year-old man is admitted to the intensive care unit with second- and third-degree burns over 25% of his total body surface area.  Intravenous fluids and analgesics are administered, and his wounds are cleaned and debrided.  After 7 days, the patient develops a fever and his leukocyte count rises to 16,000 cells/µL.  Examination of the burns on his left leg shows surrounding warmth, erythema, and induration.  Gram stain of his wound tissue is shown in the image below. Culture on MacConkey agar grows oxidase-positive colonies that do not ferment lactose.  Which of the following is the best initial treatment for this patient?

• A)Cefepime
• B)Ceftriaxone
• C)Doxycycline
• D)Moxifloxacin
• E)Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole

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Definitions:

Experimenter Bias

A situation where the researcher's expectations or preferences inadvertently influence the participants of an experiment or the interpretation of its results.

Placebo-control Group

In a clinical trial, this is a group of subjects who receive an inactive substance or treatment as a means to control for the placebo effect in the experimental outcomes.

Side Effects

Unintended or secondary effects that can occur as a result of taking medication or undergoing a specific treatment.

Research Design

The overall strategy or plan for a study, outlining how to collect and analyze information, thereby ensuring the validity and reliability of the results.