Gas Exchange

Question 1

What is gas exchange ?

Answer 1

process by which oxygen is transported to cells and carbon dioxide is transported from cells

Question 2

What are the 3 causes of impaired gas exchange ?

Answer 2

• ineffective ventilation
• reduced capacity for gas transportation (decreased Hgb, RBC)
• inadequate perfusion

Question 3

Which types of patient’s are priorities ?

Answer 3

with SOB or chest tightness

Question 4

What types of lung sounds indicate fluid in the lungs ?

Answer 4

crackles

Question 5

Why is an Arterial Blood Gases (ABGs) laboratory test better than a pulse ox ?

Answer 5

it gives us a exact level of O2 in the blood
- pulse ox gives a approximation

Question 6

What type of conditions most commonly affect the upper respiratory system ?

Answer 6

inflammatory responses

Question 7

What is the common cold ?

Answer 7

viral infection that starts in the upper respiratory tract, sometimes spreading to the lower structures

Question 8

What happens with a allergic or seasonal rhinitis ?

Answer 8

when the upper airways respond to a specific allergen

Question 9

What is sinusitis ?

Answer 9

when the epithelial lining of the sinus cavities becomes inflamed
- caused by bacteria or viruses

Question 10

What is influenza ?

Answer 10

an infection caused by any of several strains myxoviruses

Question 11

What is special about the upper respiratory tract treatments ?

Answer 11

treatment is symptomatic only not curative
- Empiric therapy: treats the most likely cause
- it’s difficult to identify where cause is viral or bacterial that’s why its empiric lots of times

Question 12

What is important about a patient with a cough ?

Answer 12

don’t want to stop a productive cough
- can cause pneumonia

Question 13

What is empiric therapy ?

Answer 13

giving a broad antibiotic for the most likely cause

Question 14

Why don’t we give cold and cough products to kids younger then 2 yrs old ?

Answer 14

causes oversedation, seizures, tachycardia, and even death in toddlers
- evidence that such meds are simply not effective in small children

Question 15

What is the protective mechanism for the lower airway ?

Answer 15

all tubes in the lower airways contain goblet cells
- these secrete mucus to entrap any particles
- lower airway is considered sterile
- upper airway protects the lower airway using the cilia to move along bacterial away from the lower airway

Question 16

What controls the body’s ventilation ?

Answer 16

central nervous system

Question 17

What is intrinsic asthma ?

Answer 17

no identifiable cause but can be associated with exercise and emotional stress

Question 18

What is extrinsic asthma ?

Answer 18

allergic asthma is triggered when an allergen cross-links IgE receptors on mast cells

Question 19

Before puberty who is more affected by asthma ?

Answer 19

more boys are affected than girls
- after puberty and into adulthood more women are affected than men

Question 20

What are some clinical manifestations of asthma ?

Answer 20

if this goes on long enough it can remodel airways
- cough (usually first sign)
- wheezing
- dyspnea
- prolonged expiration
- chest tightness
- accessory muscles

Question 21

What happens in the body with COPD ?

Answer 21

hyperinflation of the lungs which causes loss of elastic recoil