A 24-year-old male arrives at the emergency department via air transport after sustaining a fall while rock climbing. The patient is unresponsive with sluggishly reactive pupils upon arrival. His right arm and bilateral lower extremities have obvious fractures. He was intubated by EMS and requires mechanical ventilation. A CT scan reveals multiple head bleeds and intracranial swelling with a midline shift. The patient is rushed to surgery with the plan to relieve the pressure of the intracranial swelling.
-Because a hypertonic environment forces water to move out of a cell,it is said to have high osmotic ________.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

A hypertonic environment has a higher concentration of solutes than the inside of the cell, so water moves out of the cell to balance the concentration, creating a high osmotic pressure. The other options, diffusion, tension, and leverage, do not accurately describe the concept of osmotic pressure.

A 24-Year-Old Male Arrives at the Emergency Department Via Air