Obsgynaecritcare

You are called down to your HDU to review a 81 year old woman who is day one following a major laparotomy for ovarian cancer surgery. The nursing staff are worried because "she is not quite right". She hasn't made much urine over the last 3 hours, her blood pressure is a little low and she has also developed low peripheral oxygen saturations on room air and is now needing 3l/min via nasal prongs. She had a unit of blood earlier this morning and has had 4-5 litres of intravenous fluid now both during and after her operation. What to do? Should you give her a 500ml bolus of fluid to help her urine output and maybe boost her BP a little? But why are her saturations low - what if you push her into florid pulmonary oedema? Why are her sats low? Does she have pleural effusions? atelectasis? early pulmonary oedema? Should you give her a vasopressor? some frusemide? some physio? some more fluids? Aaarrgggh! You get out your stethoscope - her lungs are quiet at the bases and she is slightly breathless but you are s