A pre-hospital clinician notes that the patient they are ventilating has a waveform capnography trace showing a characteristic shark-fin pattern with ...

Question

A pre-hospital clinician notes that the patient they are ventilating has a waveform capnography trace showing a characteristic shark-fin pattern with a sloping upstroke in Phase III (the expiratory plateau). What does this indicate?

Accepted Answer

Bronchospasm or airway obstruction - the sloping upstroke indicates uneven alveolar emptying from varying airway resistance

Answer

Hyperventilation

Answer

Normal capnography trace

Answer

Oesophageal intubation

Answer

Cardiac arrest

uk-dipimc MCQ (SBA): Shark-Fin Capnography

A pre-hospital clinician notes that the patient they are ventilating has a waveform capnography trace showing a characteristic shark-fin pattern with a sloping upstroke in Phase III (the expiratory plateau). What does this indicate?