Respiartory System Flashcards
Barbara Joley was in the bus hit broadside. When she was freed from the wreckage, she was deeply cyanotic and her respiration had stopped. Her heart was still beating, but her pulse was fast and thready. The emergency medical technician reported that when Barbara was found her head was cocked at a peculiar angle, and it looked like she had a fracture at the level C2 vertebra.
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How might the “peculiar” head position explain Barbara’s cessation of breathing?
Spinal cord injury from a fracture at the level of the C2 vertebra would interrupt the normal transmission of signals from the brain stem down the phrenic nerve to the diaphragm, and Barbara would be unable to breath due to paralysis of the diaphragm.
what procedures ( do you think) the emergency personnel should of initiated immediately?
Barbara’s head, neck, and torso should of been immobilized to prevent further damage to the spinal cord. In addition, she required assistance to breathe, so her airway was probably intubated to permit ventilation to the lungs.
why is Barbara cyanotic? Explain cyanosis.
Cyanosis is a decrease in the degree of oxygen saturation in haemoglobin. As Barbara’s respiratory efforts cease, her alveolar PO2 will fall, so there is less oxygen to load onto haemoglobin. In her peripheral tissues, what little oxygen haemoglobin carries will be consumed, leaving these tissues with a bluish tinge
Assuming that Barbara survives, how will her accident affect her lifestyle in the future?
Barbara survived transport to the hospital and notes recorded at admission include the following observation.
- right thorax compressed; ribs 7 to 9 fractured
-right lung atelectasis
injury to the spinal cord at the level of the C2 vertebra will cause quadriplegia (paralysis of all four limbs).
what is atelectasis and why is only the right lung affected?
Atelectasis is the collapse of a lung. Because it is the right thorax that is compressed, only her right lung is affected. Because the lungs are in separate pleural cavities, only the right collapsed.
How do the recorded injuries relate to atelectasis?
Barbara’s fractured ribs probably punctured her lung tissue and allowed air within the lung to enter the pleural cavity.
what treatment will be done to reverse the atelectasis? What is the rationale for this treatment?
The atelectasis will be reversed by inserting a chest tube and removing the air from the pleural cavity. This will allow her lung to heal and reinflate.
