Correlation between vitals

and provisional diagnosis in

tertiary care
Submitted By : Manisha Saini
Pharm. D, 5th year
1416810
 What are vital signs?
Vital signs are measurements of the body's most basic functions. The five main vital signs routinely
monitored by medical professionals and health care providers include the following:
Body temperature
Pulse rate
Respiration rate (rate of breathing)
Blood pressure
Oxygen Saturation (SPO2)

Vital signs are useful in detecting or monitoring medical problems.  These measurements are taken to help
assess the general physical health of a person, give clues to possible diseases, and show progress toward
recovery. The normal ranges for a person’s vital signs vary with age, weight, gender, and overall health.
Vital signs can be measured in a medical setting, at home, at the site of a medical emergency, or elsewhere.

Abnormal vital signs can be an indicator of an underlying pathology, a variant due to medication, or a
result of the environment.
 Why vital signs matter ?
Measuring vitals can quickly quantify the magnitude of an illness and how well the body is coping with
the resultant physiological stress.

Vitals are also valuable as long-term health indicators that can indicate problems like chronic disease.
For example, chronically elevated blood pressure indicates hypertension. But without regularly
checking blood pressure and tracking the results, it would be hard to confirm this diagnosis.

Measuring vital signs can also help to prevent misdiagnosis.

For example: patient with hypothyroidism, is complaining about fatigue, sluggishness, and sleeping too
much. These symptoms lead a doctor to diagnose depression which is a common symptom of
hypothyroidism. A doctor might overlook the possibility that someone who is depressed has low thyroid
levels as well. Vitals would complete the picture because other symptoms of hypothyroidism include
slower heart rate, low blood pressure, and weight gain. In this scenario, the doctor would make an
accurate diagnosis if they checked vital signs and compared them to the patient’s history.
 TEMPERATURE

▪ Temperature is controlled by the hypothalamus and varies throughout the day based on the circadian
rhythm and environment. 
▪ The normal range of temperature is considered to be from 36°C to 38°C. When body temperature is
reduced, it is called hypothermia (generally less than 35°C) whereas raised body temperature (above
38°C) can either be due to the body’s inability to dissipate heat (hyperthermia) or due to the
production of pyrogenic molecules that raise body temperature (fever). 
▪ The causes of hyperthermia/fever can be categorized as infectious and non-
infectious whereas hypothermia can be categorized by the causal mechanism including decreased
heat production, increased heat loss, and impaired thermoregulation.​
 HEART RATE

  Heart rate refers to the number of times the patient’s heart beats per minute and can be measured
manually by palpating the patient’s pulse, or through various external and internal monitoring devices. 
A HR of 60 to 100 is considered normal for a healthy adult. A HR of more than 100 is
considered tachycardia while less than 60 is referred to as bradycardia. 
Tachycardia can be categorized as sinus tachycardia or a dysrhythmia whereas bradycardia can be
divided into asymptomatic  and symptomatic.​ 
 BLOOD PRESSURE
BP is the force that the patient’s circulating blood exerts on the walls of their vasculature. 

It is determined by cardiac output, blood volume, blood viscosity, systemic vascular resistance, and
vessel compliance. 

Blood pressure is the product of cardiac output (CO) and systemic vascular resistance (SVR). Cardiac
output in turn is a product of HR and stroke volume (SV).  Normal range of BP: SBP 90-120 and DBP
60-80 mmHg.
 RESPIRATORY RATE
RR is the number of breaths a patient takes in a minute. 

RR is unique in that the patient can have voluntary control over their respiratory rate which adds nuance
to how this vital sign is measured. 

The normal RR range is 12 to 20 breaths per minute. 

When RR is elevated it is called Tachypnea) and when lowered is known as bradypnea.

 OXYGEN SATURATION

Oxygen saturation measures the percentage of oxyhemoglobin (oxygen bound hemoglobin) in the
blood.

It is generally measured with pulse oximetry, which provides an approximation of arterial SaO 2.

It is important to remember that SaO2  is an incomplete measure of a patient’s respiratory

status. Despite measuring oxygenation (the process of introducing oxygen to the circulation),
SaO2 sat. does not assess ventilation (gas exchange).

Hypoxia is considered SaO2 <92% although there are different targets based on underlying disease
states (e.g. 88 – 92% for patients with COPD). There are a number of causes for hypoxia that include
environmental and pathological etiologies.​
 CONCLUSION

So, we can say that vital signs can be important parameters in provisional diagnosis of a disease if taken in
consideration with patient’s history and symptoms.

But to confirm the diagnosis, further investigations should be done.

THANK YOU