Breathing Flashcards
What is the largest airway?
Trachea
How many lobes does the right lung have?
3
What are the narrowest airways?
Bronchioles
What are the small air filled sacs at the end of bronchioles called?
Alveoli
What is the name of the slippery membrane that covers the lungs and the inside of the chest wall?
The pleura
Where are intercostal muscles found?
Between the ribs
Why does breathing not require conscious thought?
As it is controlled by the autonomic nervous system.
What is the primary role of the vegas nerve?
Transports nerve signals to the brain to regulate involuntary functions like respiration, heart rate and blood pressure.
What is gas exchange?
The physical process by which gassess move passively by diffusion across a surface.
What two sites in the body does gas exchange occur?
The lungs and tissue
What is the journey of the air through the body?
Trachea -> Bronchi -> Bronchioles -> respiratory bronchioles -> alveolar ducts -> alveoli
What makes up the structure of the bronchioles?
Smooth muscle and the epithelium
What is the role of the smooth muscle in the bronchi?
Help regulate the flow of air into the lungs by dialating when more air is needed and constricting when less air is needed.
How is carbon dioxide cleared from the body?
It is transferred to the blood stream into the alveoli in the lungs and then exhaled from the lungs.
Where does the internal respiration gas exchange occur?
Across the respiratory membrane in the metabolizing tissue.
Where doe the external gas exchane occur?
Across the respiratory membrane in the lungs.
What determines the direction and rate of diffusion across the respiratory membrane?
The partial pressure gradient of the gas.
What is the mediastinum?
The space between the lungs.
What is the upper part of the lung called?
Apex
What is the lower part of the lung called?
The base
What changes the pressure in the thoracic cavity?
The diaphragm
How many pairs of intercostal muscles are there?
11
What is asthma?
A chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways. Airflow is
limited due to bronchoconstriction, airway oedema, airway
hyperresponsiveness and airway remodelling
What 3 factors casue small airway obstruction and narrowing?
- Bronchial mucosal swelling
- Bronchial muscle spasm and constriction
- Increased bronchial mucus and secretions
What can trigger airway obstruction and narrowing?
respiratory infections, cold weather, exercise, hypersensitivity to antigens etc
What are some examples of preventer medications asthmatics take?
anti- inflammatory/ steroid drugs e.g: beclometasone, budesonide and fluticasone
Examples of reliever medications asthmatics?
Salbutamol, terbutaline and ipratropium bromide
What are the main symptoms of moderate and severe asthma?
increased respiratory rate, decreased SpO2, wheeze,
cough, chest tightness, shortness of breath; use of accessory
muscles
A patient over 50 with a history of breahtlessness and no other known causes should be treated as having what?
COPD
What does salbutamol do?
Relaxes smooth muscle and dialates the airways
What is an agonist drug?
A drug that binds to a receptor and acts the same as the substance that normally binds to it
What does Ipratropium Bromide do?
Bronchodialator that also reduces secretions
What is COPD?
An umbrella term used for a group of respiratory disorders characterised by by chronic and recurrent obstruction of airflow in the
pulmonary airways.
What is the target SpO2 for someone with COPD?
88-92%
What condition causes long-term inflammation of the airways causing airway obstruction in the
major and small airways.
Chronic Bronchitis
When would chronic bronchitis be diagnosed?
If patient has a cough and sputum production for at least 3 months in each of 2 consecutive years.
What does the loss of lung elasticity and abnormal enlargement of the air spaces below
the terminal bronchioles in the “tree”, where the alveolar walls and
capillary beds are destroyed by enzymes called proteases, describe?
Emphysema
What are time critical features in COPD?
- Major <C> ABCDE problems</C>
- Extreme breathing difficulty (by reference to patient’s usual condition)
- Cyanosis (although peripheral cyanosis may be ‘normal’ in some
patients) - Exhaustion
- Hypoxia (oxygen saturation <88%) unresponsive to oxygen (O2)
When does wheezing occur?
when the bronchial tubes become inflamed and narrowed.
What is the common cause of stridor in children?
laryngomalacia
What does the V/Q ratio measure?
is a ratio used
to assess the efficiency and adequacy of the ventilation-
perfusion coupling
What defines a pulmonary embolism?
A condition in which one of the pulmonary arteries in the lungs gets blocked by a blood clot.
What are the four main types of pulmonary embolisms?
Multiple small PE, Segmental emboli with pulmonary infarction, Major pulmonary emboli obstruction of the larger branches of the pulmonary tree and Massive pulmonary emboli
What are the primary symptoms of pulmonary embolisms?
Dyspnoea, pleuritic chest pain, substernal chest pain, apprehension, cough, haemoptysis and syncope
What are the signs of deep vein thrombosis?
pain, swelling and tenderness in one leg, with the affected area warm and red.
