Resp medicine block Flashcards
What are some common presenting complaints for a resp hx?
- Dyspnoea
- Chest pain
- Wheeze
- Cough
- Sputum
- Haemopytsis
What are some specific qs for dyspnoea and chest pain?
Dyspnoea - MRC score, exercise tolerance, T+R, PND, dinural variation
Chest pain - site, severity, radiation, T+R, associated sx
What are some specific qs for wheeze and cough?
Wheeze - T+R, dinural variation, cough
Cough - dry or productive, T+R, dinural variation, w eating or dyspepsia, positional, nasal secretion, fever
What are some specific qs for sputum and haemopytsis?
Sputum - amount in 24 hours, colour, consistency
Haemopytsis - amount, freq, fever, night sweats, weight loss
What is some relevant PMH?
- Surgery
- Cancer
- Childhood/previous lung infection
- Asthma
- COPD
- Nasal polyps
- DVT/PE
- CVS disease
What do you ask in a drug hx?
- What drug?
- Route, dose, freq, adherance
- OTC or herbal remedies
- Allergies
What relevant FH is there?
- Resp disease
- CVS disease
- Thrombophilia
- CF
- Cancer
What qs do you ask in a SH?
- Performance status
- Smoking - how long for/when stopped, pack years
- Alcohol
- ADL, accom, carers?
- Occupational exposure, esp asbestos
- Recent foreign travel/immobility
- Pets
What is the MRC dyspnoea score? 1-5
- SOB only on strenuous exercise
- SOB when in a rush or walking up a small hill
- SOB on flat ground/need to stop for breath
- SOB when walking 100m
- Too breathlessness to leave the house, when dressing
What is the WHO performance score? 0-5
- No restriction to activity
- Restricted in physically strenuous activity but able to do light work
- Ambulatory and self care but can’t do work activities
- In bed >50% of day
- In bed/chair all of day, can’t do self care
- Dead
Give the definition for:
- Ambulatory
- Dinural variation
- PND
- Orthopnoea
Ambulatory - adapted for walking
Dinural variation - variation in symptoms (in this case pulm func) depending on the time of day
PND - paraoxysmal nocturnal dyspnoea
Orthopnoea - SOB lying down
How do you report a CXR?
- Name and age of pt, date of XR
- What type of XR - AP, PA, erect or mobile
- Quality of XR - rotation, penetration, adequate inspiration
- ABC - airwarys+lungs, bones, cardio + diagphragm, apices etc
- Say what you can obviously see
What are the different regions of the lung on CXR?
Upper
Middle
Lower zones
What is the cardio thoracic ratio?
Diameter of the heart should be half the diameter of the thorax. If the diameter of the heart is increased = cardiomegaly.
What is spirometry? What does the FEV1:FVC ratio indicate?
Way to measure different lung volumes, can create flow time graphs and flow vol loops from these.
FEV1:FVC >80% = restrictive lung disease and <70% = obstructive lung disease.
What are some examples of obstructive and restrictive lung diseases?
Obstructive - COPD and asthma
Restrictive - pulm fibrosis, interstitial lung disease, asbestosis, neuromuscular disease
What are FEV1 and FVC?
FEV1 - forced expiratory vol in first second
FVC - forced vital capacity over 6 seconds after max inspiration
Draw the different flow time graphs, label what they show
Answers on iPad
Draw the different flow vol loops and label what they show, there are 6
Answers on iPad
What can you see on ABG?
- Hypoxia
- Acid base balance
- A-a gradient
What are the 4 causes of hypoxia?
- Hypoventilation
- V/Q mismatch
- Shunt
- Diffusion impairment
What are the causes of resp acidosis?
Hypoventilation eg. neuromuscular disease
Alveolar hypoventilation - COPD.
What is the A-a gradient?
A = alveolar O2
a = arterial O2
In a healthy young person it should be <2 kPa and in elderly people <4 kPa. >4 kPA = lung pathology
How do you work out the A-a gradient?
PAO2 = PIO2(room air) - PCO2/o.8.
Then PAO2 - PaO2 to calculate the gradient.
What is anaphylaxis?
Serious allergic reaction. IgE - antigen - mast cells and basophils increase - histamine increase - body response
What is the body’s response to anaphylaxis?
- Pruritis, uticaria
- Angioedema
- Stridor, bronchial obstruction, hoarseness, wheeze, tight chest
How is anaphylaxis managed?
- Remove trigger, manage airway and 100% O2
- 5mg IM adrenaline, repeat every 5 mins
- IV hydrocortisone 200 mg
- IV chlorpheniramine 5 mg
- If hypotensive = lie flat and resus
- Bronchospasm = NEB salbutamol
- Laryngeal oedema = NEB adrenaline
What are the parameters to define mild, moderate and severe asthma attacks?
Mild - PEFR >75%
Mod - PEFR 50-75%
Severe - PEFR 33-50%, can’t complete sentences, RR >25/min, pulse >110 bpm
What defines a life threatening and then a near fatal asthma attack?
Life threatening - <33% PEFR, confused, exhausted, poor resp effort, silent chest, cyanosis, hypotension, arrhythmias, sats <92%, ABG pO2 <8 kPa
Near fatal - raised pCO2
What is acute asthma management?
- AtoE, 100% O2 - aim for 94-98%, if <92% do ABG
- 5mg NEB salbutamol, can repeat after 15mins
- 40mg oral prednisolone STAT
What do you add on to acute asthma management in a severe attack?
- NEB ipratropium bromide 500mcg
- Consider back to back salbutamol
What do you add on to acute asthma management if life threatening attack?
- Consider IV salbutamol
- ITU/anaesthetic assessment
- Urgent portable CXR
- IV aminophylline
What is aminophylline?
Theophylline (adenosine receptor antagonists, reduces bronchoconstriction) + ethylenediamine, relaxes smooth muscle and relieves bronchial spasm
What are the causes of COPD exacerbations? How can you distinguish between the two?
Infective - fever, change in sputum vol and colour, increased WCC or CRP
Non infective causes eg. PE or pollution
How do you manage COPD exacerbations?
Always AtoE approach.
- Give O2 - aim 94-98% but if have acute/previous type 2 resp failure 88-92%
- NEB salbutamol and ipratopium
- Prednisolone 30mg STAT and OD for 7 days
- If purulent sputum and raised WCC = Abx
- CXR
- Consider IV aminophylline and NIV if type 2 resp fail, pH 7.25-7.35
- Consider ITU referral if pH <7.25
Define these terms:
- NIV
- Type 2 resp failure
NIV - non invasive ventilation
Type 2 resp failure - raised PaCO2
What is the criteria to diagnose pneumonia?
Consolidation on CXR with fever. +/- purulent sputum, raised WCC and CRP.
What is the management of pneumonia?
Always AtoE approach.
- If signs of sepsis start immediately w IV Abx and fluids
- Otherwise Abx as per the CURB65 score, local guidelines and pt allergies
What is the CURB65 score?
C - confusion U - urea >7 R - RR >30/min B - <90mmHg systolic <60mmmHg diastolic 65 - older than this
What defines massive haemopytsis?
240ml over 24 hours or 100ml/day over consecutive days.
How is massive haemopytsis managed?
AtoE approach!
- Lie pt on side of lesion
- Stop NSAIDs, aspirin, anticoag
- Oral tranexamic acid for 5 days or can be IV
- Consider Vit K
- CT aortogram, may be able to do bronchial artery embolism
What is tranexamic acid?
Anti fibrinolytic by binding to plasminogen, inhibiting plasmin formation.
What are the signs and sx of tension pneumothorax?
Signs - tracheal and mediastinal shift away from pneumothorax, reduced lung sounds, reduced chest movement, hyperresonance, cyanosis, tachy, hypotension
Sx - pleuritic chest pain, SOB
How is tension pneumothorax managed?
Large IV cannula in 2nd ICS mid clav line. Chest drain in affected side.
What are the sx of PE?
- Pleuritic chest pain
- SOB
- Haemopytsis
- Signs of low cardiac output
What are some signs of low cardiac output?
- Fatigue, confusion, reduced consciousness
- Cold peripheries, delayed cap refill
- Hypotension and tachy
What are some RF of PE?
- Obstetrics
- Surgery
- Malignancy
- Period of immobility
- Previous VTE
- Lower limb fracture/varicose vein
What is the initial management of PE?
- AtoE, oxygen if SOB, analgesia if in pain
- Subcut LMWH whilst waiting for CTPA
How is PE diagnosed and what is the treatment once diagnosis is confirmed?
CTPA - CT pulm angiogram. Then full anticoag.
What are the options of anticoag to treat PE?
Dalteparin
Enoxaparin
Tinzaparin
Fondaparinux
What are the signs of massive PE and how is it treated?
Treat = IV alteplase
Signs - R sided heart strain, hypotension, almost at cardiac arrest
What are some contraindications of thrombolysis?
- Aortic dissection
- CNS malignancy
- Thrombolytic/ischaemic stroke
- GI bleed
- Bleeding disorder
What are the characteristics of asthma?
- Chronic airway inflam and obstruction
- Reversible w treatment or spontaneously
- Airway more responsive to stimuli than normal = increased narrowing
What are the sx of asthma?
- SOB
- Tight chest
- Cough that is worse at night
- Wheeze
- Increased RR
What are some differentials of wheeze?
- Bronchitis
- Allergies
- Acute asthma exacerbation
- Pulm oedema
- GORD
- Foreign body
What is the pathophysiology of asthma?
- Airway and epithelial damage causes fibrosis and BM thickening
- Eosinophils, T lymphocytes and mast cells release histamine, leukotrienes, prostaglandins and cytokines
- Increased mucus (mucus plugging can be fatal in severe asthma), SM hyperplasia and hypertrophy
What is eosinophilia?
Some pt w asthma have eosinophilic inflam which normally responds to steroids. There are other causes eg. COPD, hayfever, lymphoma, SLE, aspergillosis
What is the criteria for discharge after asthma exacerbation?
- PEFR >75%
- Stop NEB 24 hours before discharge
- Asthma nurse reassess inhaler technique and adherance
- Go home w 5 days prednisolone
- GP follow up w/i 2 days and clinic w/i 4 weeks