Respiratory Flashcards
What is the initial survey of a respiratory examination?
The initial survey includes assessing the patient’s sex, age, general appearance, weight status, body language, and identifying risk factors via history.
What should be inspected during a respiratory examination?
Inspect the patient’s chest shape, symmetry, bony deformities, breathing rate, rhythm, depth, audible sounds, accessory muscle retraction, trachea positioning, and signs of cyanosis.
What indicates respiratory distress in a patient?
Signs of respiratory distress include tachypnoea, wheezing, grunting, cyanosis, running out of breath while speaking, nostril flaring, retractions, sweating, and specific body positioning.
What is assessed during palpation in a respiratory examination?
Palpation includes checking for tenderness, assessing chest expansion, and evaluating tactile fremitus.
How is chest expansion assessed?
Place hands at the 10th rib posteriorly, bring thumbs together in the midline, and ask the patient to take a deep breath while observing the movement of the thumbs.
What is the purpose of percussion in a respiratory examination?
Percussion is used to assess the thorax for resonance, hyperresonance, dullness, and diaphragm excursion.
What does a hyperresonant percussion note suggest?
Hyperresonance suggests COPD from alveolar air trapping and delayed expiration.
What does a dull percussion note indicate?
A dull percussion note indicates increased lung tissue density, which can be seen in conditions like pneumonia.
What is tactile fremitus and how is it assessed?
Tactile fremitus is assessed by feeling for vocal vibrations transmitted from the larynx to the chest wall. The patient repeats ‘99’ while comparing bilaterally.
What are normal breath sounds?
Normal vesicular sounds are soft and low pitched, heard during inspiration, while bronchial sounds are louder and higher in pitch, often heard over the trachea.
What are adventitious sounds in respiratory examination?
Adventitious sounds are superimposed on usual breath sounds, including crackles, wheezes, and rhonchi, which suggest various pathologies.
What does an increase in tactile fremitus indicate?
An increase in tactile fremitus indicates denser or inflamed lung tissue, often seen in pneumonia.
What does a decrease in tactile fremitus suggest?
A decrease in tactile fremitus suggests air or fluid in the pleural spaces or decreased lung tissue density, as seen in COPD or asthma.
