Respiratory Terminology

Question 1

What is accessory muscle use?

Answer 1

condition in which accessory muscles are used to assist w inspiration; a sign of respiratory distress

Question 2

What is apnea?

Answer 2

a- without; -pnea: breathing;

Question 3

What is asphyxia?

Answer 3

-ia: condition; a- without; -sphyxia: pulse; extreme decrease in the amount of oxygen in the body

Question 4

What is asthma?

Answer 4

chronic condition with episodes of inflammation and narrowing of the airways leading to difficulty breathing and wheezing

Question 5

What is atelectasis?

Answer 5

atel/o-: incomplete; -ectasis: dilation; incomplete expansion of the lungs d.t. a partially collapsed lung

Question 6

What is brochitis?

Answer 6

inflammation of the bronchioles; may be acute or chronic

Question 7

What is COPD

Answer 7

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder; common chronic lung disease marked by difficulty breathing; a combination of chronic bronchitis and emphysema

Question 8

What is croup?

Answer 8

a loud cough resembling a barking sound and difficulty breathing

Question 9

What is dyspnea?

Answer 9

difficulty breathing

Question 10

What is dyspnea on exertion?

Answer 10

DOE; Shortness of breath with exertion

Question 11

What is emphysema?

Answer 11

-ema: condition; em-: in; phys-: air, gas; hyperinflation of air sacs with destruction of alveolar walls

Question 12

What is hemoptysis?

Answer 12

-ptysis: spitting; hem/o- blood; coughing up blood

Question 13

What is hemothorax?

Answer 13

blood in the pleural cavity; thorax: pleural cavity

Question 14

What is hypoxia?

Answer 14

reduced O2 supply to tissue; O2 saturation under 95% in children, and under 90% in adults

Question 15

What is pneumonia?

Answer 15

a bacterial infection in the lungs

Question 16

What is pneumothorax?

Answer 16

“air in the pleural cavity”; when air leaks into the pleural cavity, the pressure inside the pleural cavity becomes greater than the pressure in the lung, and causes it to collapse

Question 17

What is rales?

Answer 17

crackling noises heard on auscultation of the lung during inhalation

Question 18

What is respiratory distress?

Answer 18

the inability to adequately ventilate causing labored ventilation

Question 19

What are retractions?

Answer 19

inward movement of the chest wall with inspiration; usually a sign of respiratory distress

Question 20

What is rhonchi?

Answer 20

coarse rattling breath sounds

Question 21

What is sputum?

Answer 21

mucus coughed up from the airways

Question 22

What is stridor?

Answer 22

a wheeze-like sound heard on auscultation, usually a sign of an obstructed airway

Question 23

What is tuberculosis?

Answer 23

an infectious disease caused by bacteria; tuberculum- small pimple, swelling; -osis: condition of; condition of lumps in the lung

Question 24

What is tachypnea?

Answer 24

increased respiratory rate

Question 25

What is wheezing?

Answer 25

coarse, whistling lung sounds caused by narrow airways

Question 26

What is endotracheal intubation?

Answer 26

-tracheal the trachea; endo- inside; in- inside; -tub: tube; -ation: process or condition; process of inserting a tube inside the trachea

Question 27

What is a nebulizer treatment?

Answer 27

medicine is inhaled through a mouthpiece or mask to deliver bronchodilator medication

Question 28

What is a VQ scan? what is the purpose?

Answer 28

ventilation-perfusion scan is a nuclear study that evaluates air flow and blood flow in the lungs; to look for a pulmonary embolism

Question 29

What is a tracheostomy?

Answer 29

-ostomy: to make an artificial opening; trachea- pertaining to the trachea; creation of an opening into the trachea through the neck and the insertion of a tube to create an airway

Question 30

What is a thoracostomy tube?

Answer 30

chest tube; insertion of a chest tube into the pleural cavity to drain air, blood, or other fluids

Question 31

What is a thoracotomy?

Answer 31

to cut into the thoracic cavity; surgical opening of the chest cavity to access the throat, lungs, heart, aorta, and diaphragm. emergent surgery in trauma if internal bleeding is uncontrolled

Question 32

What is thoracentesis?

Answer 32

procedure to remove fluid from the space between the lining of the outside of the lungs and the wall of the chest