Intro and Diagnostics to Pulm Flashcards
Define tidal volume
The volume of air inspired or expired with each normal breath at rest
Define inspiratory reserve volume
Maximum volume of air that can be inspired over and above the tidal volume.
Define expiratory reserve volume
ERV) is the volume of air that can be expired after the expiration of the tidal volume (about 1L)
Define residual volume
(RV) is the volume of air that remains in the lungs after maximal exhalation
so that they don’t collapse
Define Vital capacity (VC)
The greatest volume of air that can be expelled from the lungs after taking the deepest possible breath
Forced vital capacity
the amount of air that can be forcibly exhaled from the lungs after taking the deepest breath possible
Forced expiratory volume in one second
the amount of FVC you can forcibly exhale in 1 second
Peak expiratory flow (PEF) rate
the maximal speed at which air can be exhaled with force
What do you inspect for lung conditions?
- Pattern, depth of breathing
- Time spent in inspiration and expiration
- Symmetry of expansion (squeeze back together and look for movement of thumbs)
- Retractions
- Digital clubbing¹ (long term hypoxia, and nail bed becomes rounded)
- Acrocyanosis (blue/gray skin d/t problems with blood flow - common in smokers, and can change with position)
Always inspect first, can look for retractions if clothes are removed
Can you document retractions with clothes on? Why are retractions a concern?
ABSOLUTELY NOT
Your muscles can fatigue and go into respiratory failure and cannot compensate for lung movement, leading to death. NEED TO IMMEDIATELY ADDRESS
What is the RR of Bradypnea?
<12
Where do you palpate for tracheal allignment and what are you looking for?
Suprasternal notch
Looking for tracheal deviation in tension
Tactile tremitus and what you are looking for
Vibrations, if you don’t feel it, the lung collapsed or there is fluid buildup
Where do you palpate for heaves? What are you looking for?
Chest
Can feel if heart is enlarged or deviated
Where do you asscess the point of maximal impulse? What is abnormal?
Midclavicular intercostal space 4.
Should be in left lateral decubitus and tilted towards the front so that the heart shifts to the side.
Abnormal is if you feel it at the 5th, or at a different location
What is resonance and what do you do to hear it? What if it is dull instead? What if the lung collapses?
Percussion
Resonant if air moves through it, it will be dull if there is something dense.
Will hear hyperresonance if the lung collapses because there is not tissue there
What is Pulmonary Function Testing (PFT? and the two primary ones?
Measures lung expiration and inspiration
Spirometry and Plethysmography
What is Spirometry, Plethysmography based on?
measured against predicted values derived from large studies of healthy people of same height, weight, sex and race.
What is diffusion capacity a type of?
a type of PFT
What are the indications of a PFT?
If there is chronic lung condition, not acute pulmonary complaints.
- Evaluate patients with respiratory symptoms or rib fracture (to prevent complications such as pneumonia)
- Assess progression of previously diagnosed lung disease
- Monitor the efficacy of treatment
- Evaluate patients preoperatively (make sure that they are good candidates for surgery)
- Monitor for potentially toxic side effects of certain drugs
What are the considerations for PFTs? Why does this exclude young patients?
Requires cooperations - need to follow directions, which is why <5 yo is not indicated
How much air can your lungs hold?
6L
What are spirometers? What does it tell you?
Tells you how much a patient can force in and force out. Performed bedside.
There will be a goal based on body habitus (marked by a yellow line)
Tell to exhale as much as possible after deepest inhalation
When is a spirometer used for bronchodilators?
May be performed pre- and post bronchodilator
assesses reversibility of airflow 10-15 minutes after bronchodilator to see if it is useful for management
How does spirometry prevent pneumonia?
Patients experience pain during deep breaths, and default shallow breaths instead, but spirometry can be used to keep lungs healthy by setting goals
What are the indications for spirometry?
- diagnostic and monitoring of lung and neuromuscular diseases that affect breathing
- prevention of post-surgical/traumatic pulmonary complications
What are the contraindications for spirometry and why? What are some minor complications that are not CI?
- recent (<6wks) since abdominal, intracranial, or eye surgery or a pneumothorax (don’t want to reopen a wound)
- thoracic, abdominal and cerebral aneurysms
- unstable angina or a recent MI
- acute severe asthma (actively struggling to breathe - and using the test may cause them to pass out), acute respiratory distress, active TB (can cause airborne transmission of disease)
can cause dizziness and syncope, but these are not CI
What is the gold standard of PFT? When is this done? What does this allow you to do?
Plethysmography (glass air-tight container)
Done if decreased FVC on spirometry (as spirometry is easier to perform)
Tells us total lung capacity
What is functional residual capacity?
The volume of air in the lungs following expiration of the tidal volume (ERV + RV)
What are the two categories of lung disease? What are the complications of these?
Obstructive: difficulty exhaling air from the lungs. Air builds up in lungs and there is more reserved volume, leading to barel chest (1:1 ratio)
Restrictive: difficulty expanding the lungs during inhalation. Typically caused by scarring and lungs can’t open up