Unit 1: Respiratory Flashcards
Which muscles tense and relax the vocal cords?
CricoThyroid: “Cords Tense”
ThyroaRytenoid: “They Relax”
What muscles abduct and adduct the vocal cords?
Posterior CricoArytenoid: “Please Come Apart”
Lateral CricoArytenoid: “Let’s Close Airway”
Describe the sensory innervation of the upper airway
Trigeminal: V1 (nares, anterioer 1/3 of septum); V2 (turbinates, septum); V3 (anterior 2/3 of tongue)
Glossopharyngeal: posterior 1/3 of tongue, soft palate, oropharynx, vallecula, anterior side of epiglottis
Superior Laryngeal: Internal branch (posterior side of epiglottis to level of vocal cords); External branch (no sensory)
Recurrent Laryngeal: below vocal cords to trachea
How does recurrent laryngeal nerve injury affect the integrity of the airway?
Bilateral Injury:
- acute – respiratory distress (unopposed action of cricothyroid muscles)
- chronic – no respiratory distress
Unilateral: no respiratory distress
How does superior laryngeal nerve injury affect the integrity of the airway?
Bilateral: hoarseness and no respiratory distress
Unilateral: no respiratory distress
What are the 3 airway blocks? Identify the key landmarks for each one.
Glossopharyngeal Nerve Block: palatoglossal arch at the anterior tonsillar pillar
Superior Laryngeal Nerve Block: greater cornu of hyoid
Transtracheal Nerve Block: circothyroid membrane
What are the 3 paired and 3 unpaired cartilages of the larynx?
Unpaired: epiglottis, thyroid, cricoid
Paired: corniculate, arytenoid, cuneiform
What is the treatment for laryngospasm?
- 100% FiO2
- Remove noxious stimulation
- Deepen anesthesia
- CPAP 15-20
- Open the airway (head extension, chin lift)
- Larson’s maneuver
- SUX
How to the respiratory muscles function during the breathing cycle?
Contraction of inspiratory muscles reduces thoracic pressure and increases thoracic volume — example of Boyle’s Law
Inspiration: diaphragm increases superior/inferior dimension – external intercostals increase AP diameter – accessory muscles are sternocleidomastoid and scalene muscles
Exhalation: usually passive - driven by recoil of chest wall – abd musculature assist in active exhalation
What is the difference between Minute Ventilation and Alveolar Ventilation?
Minute Ventilation (Ve): amount of air in a single breath multiplied by number of breaths per minute — Ve = Vt x RR
Alveolar Ventilation (VA): only measures the fraction of Ve that is available for gas exchange (removes anatomic dead space from minute ventilation equation) — VA = (Vt - Anatomic dead space) x RR
- directly proportional to CO2 production
- indirectly proportional to PaCO2
What are the four types of dead space?
Anatomic Vd – air confined to the conducting airway (nose/mouth to terminal bronchioles)
Alveolar Vd – alveoli that are ventilated but not perfused (reduced pulmonary blood flow - decreased CO)
Physiologic Vd – anatomic Vd + alveolar Vd (anything that increases anatomic or alveolar Vd)
Apparatus Vd – Vd added by equipment (facemask, HME, limb of circle system if incompetent valve present)
What does the alveolar compliance curve tell you?
Alveolar ventilation is a function of alveolar size and its position on the alveolar compliance curve
- best ventilated alveoli are the most compliant (steep slope of the curve)
- poorest ventilated alveoli are the least compliant (flat portion of the curve)
What does the V/Q ratio represent?
V/Q ratio = ratio of ventilation to perfusion (minute ventilation / CO)
- normal Mv = 4 L/min
- normal CO = 5 L/min
- normal V/Q ratio = 0.8
What are the different V/Q mismatch scenarios?
If V/Q ratio >0.8 – moves toward dead space
If V/Q ratio <0.8 – moves toward shunt
-dead space = V/Q of infinity
shunt = V/Q of 0
What are the West zones of the lung?
Zone 1: PA > Pa > Pv — dead space - ventilation w/o perfusion
Zone 2: Pa > PA > Pv — waterfall - normal physiology
Zone 3: Pa > Pv > PA — shunt - perfusion w/o ventilation
Zone 4: Pa > Pist > Pv > PA — pressure in the interstitial space impairs ventilation and perfusion
What is the alveolar gas equation?
Alveolar Oxygen = FiO2 x (Pb - PH2O) - (PaCO2/RQ)
Pb = atmospheric pressure PH2O = 47 mmHg RQ = 0.8 (respiratory quotient)
- tells us that hypoventilation can cause hypercarbia and hypoxemia – also explains how supplemental O2 reverses hypoxemia, but does nothing to reverse hypercarbia
- Alveolar oxygen in healthy pt breathing room air at sea level ~105.98 mmHg
What is the A-a gradient? What factors affect it?
The difference between alveolar oxygen (PAO2) and arterial oxygen (PaO2)
- helps diagnose the cause of hypoxemia by quantifying the amount of venous admixture
- it is less than 15 mmHg
Increased by high FiO2, aging, vasodilators, right to left shunting, and diffusion limitation
What are the five causes of hypoxemia? Which ones do supplemental O2 reverse?
- Reduced FiO2 (normal A-a gradient) — Yes
- Hypoventilation (normal A-a gradient) — Yes
- Diffusion Limitation (increased A-a gradient) — Yes
- V/Q Mismatch (increased A-a) — Yes
- Shunt (increased A-a) — No, no way for O2 to access the pulmonary capillary
What are the five lung volumes? What are the reference values for each?
Inspiratory Reserve Volume - 3000 mL (volume of gas that can be forcibly inhaled after a tidal inhalation)
Tidal Volume - 500 mL (volume of gas that enters and exits the lungs during tidal breathing)
Expiratory Reserve Volume - 1100 mL (volume of gas that can be forcibly exhaled after a tidal exhalation)
Residual Volume - 1200 mL (volume of gas that remains in the lungs after a complete exhalation)
Closing Volume - ~30% age 20 ~55% age 70 (volume above residual volume where the small airways begin to close)
What are the five lung capacities? What are the reference values for each?
- Total Lung Capacity - 5800 mL (IRV+TV+ERV+RV)
- Vital Capacity - 4500 mL (IRV+TV+ERV)
- Inspiratory Capacity - 3500 mL (IRV+TV)
- Functional Residual Capacity - 2300 mL (RV+ERV) – lung volume at end expiration
- Closing Capacity - variable (RV+CV) – absolute volume of gas contained in the lungs when the small airways close
What factors influence functional residual capacity (FRC)?
Conditions that Reduce – tend to reduce outward lung expansion and/or reduce lung compliance
- when FRC is reduced, intrapulmonary shunt (zone III) increases
- PEEP acts to restore FRC by reducing zone III
COPD or any condition that causes air trapping increases FRC
*FRC cannot be measured by conventional spirometry – includes residual volume
What tests can measure FRC?
Measured indirectly by:
- nitrogen washout
- helium wash in
- body plethysmography
What increases closing volume?
CLOSE-P:
- COPD
- Left ventricular failure
- Obesity
- Surgery
- Extreme age
- Pregnancy
What is the equation for oxygen-carrying capacity? What is normal?
CaO2 = (1.34 x Hgb x SaO2) + (PaO2 x 0.003)
Normal = 20 mL O2/dL
*how much O2 is carried in the blood