Respiratory Flashcards
What are common causes of fluid in the pleural space?
Cancer, congestive heart failure, infection
If there is fluid in the pleural space, what is the procedure done to drain it?
Thoracentasis
What are important topics you want to cover in a health history for a focused respiratory assessment?
Pulmonary disease
Chronic respiratory infections
Medications
Psychosocial (occupation, exposure to pollutants, smoking history)
Breathing (dyspnea)
Cough (productive vs non productive)
Chest Pain
Health promotion (vaccinations etc)
What kind of sputum is suggestive of heart failure?
“pink, frothy sputum” or “hemoptysis”
How do you assess smoking history?
packs/day x years
= pack years
What position is a patient in during assessment of the lungs?
Sitting
What are signs that a patient is in respiratory distress?
Use of accessory muscles
Tripod position
High RR
What are normal findings when inspecting the thoracic cage?
■ Skin color is uniform and intact; hair
distribution is consistent with gender and
ethnicity.
■ Adult respiratory rate (eupnea) is 12–20
breaths per minute; even and smooth
respirations
■ Transverse diameter is approximately twice
the anteroposterior (AP) diameter; AP-to-
transverse ratio is approximately 1:2, and the
costal angle is less than 90 degrees
Why is hair growth relevant to respiratory function?
Hair grows where there is oxygen
Pectus excavatum, also known as ______ ______ is a congenital deformity; sternum is abnormally depressed or sunken into the chest
Funnel chest
In this condition, anterior posterior-to-transverse ratio is 1:1, and the costal angle is greater than 90 degrees; increase in the costal angle may be a sign of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
barrel chest
Pectus carinatum aka ______ ________ is a deformity of the chest; the sternum protrudes out from the chest
pigeon chest
prolonged inspiratory phase may indicate
_____ airway obstruction
upper
prolonged expiratory phase
may indicate ____ airway obstruction
lower
eupnea
normal breathing
what are the common causes of tachypnea?
fever, anxiety, exercise, shock
what are common causes of bradypnea?
sleep, drugs, metabolic disorder, head injury, stroke
Respiratory pattern where you have gradual increases and decreases in respirations with periods of apnea
Cheyne-Stokes
What are common causes of Cheyne-Stokes?
Increasing intracranial pressure, brain stem injury, end of life
What is the breathing pattern of people with diabetic acidosis? (“Kussmauls”)
hyperventilation (tachypnea + hyperpnea)