NURS 6501: Advanced Pathophysiology

Case Study on Hematologic Disorders Anemia is a reduction or a decrease in the quality or quantity of hemoglobin that the body has circulating in the body (McCance & Huether, 2019). Anemia is when the body lacks enough healthy red blood cells to oxygenate the body's various cells. This case study will examine the different forms of anemia and why a patient would need a splenectomy after a diagnosis of immune thrombocytopenia or ITP. Different Kinds of Anemia There are several ways to identify anemias, and one helpful way is by the underlying mechanism (McCance & Huether, 2019). Anemia accounts for nine percent of the world's total disability burden and has been associated with adverse health and development outcomes (Chaparro & Suchdev, 2019). The causes of anemia vary. Acute blood loss is normocyticnormochromic anemia caused by blood loss (McCance & Huether, 2019). Megaloblastic anemia is characterized by large red blood cells, also called megaloblasts, in the bone marrow (Lanzkowsky, 2022). The volume of the red blood cell is more significant than usual in this type of anemia due to ineffective DNA synthesis, commonly caused by nutritional deficiencies (McCance & Huether, 2019). Microcytic anemia is where the red blood cells are abnormally small, reducing how much hemoglobin the body can carry to the tissue (McCance & Huether, 2019). Elements that contribute to the formation of hemoglobin in the bone marrow are iron, other minerals, and vitamins, especially folic acid and B12 (Bhadra & Deb, 2020). When the body does not have iron, the body cannot build components of hemoglobin to carry oxygen (Bhadra & Deb, 2020). Anemia of chronic diseases results from an iron utilization impairment in patients with a chronic condition or inflammation (McCance & Huether, 2019).