Physical Exam Findings
A new onset of this type of sputum in a post-operative patient can be a sign of a pulmonary infection.
What is yellow or green sputum?
A successful lung transplant can dramatically improve a patient's gas exchange, activity tolerance, and this.
What is overall quality of life?
This term refers to the functional tissue of the lungs responsible for gas exchange, including the alveoli and respiratory bronchioles.
What is the parenchyma?
This serious condition is characterized by a sudden onset of widespread pulmonary inflammation and presents with severe hypoxemia that does not improve with standard oxygen therapy.
What is Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)?
This type of respiratory failure is marked by hypoxemia with a normal or low level of CO₂
What is Type I respiratory failure?
In a patient with a large pleural effusion, this is the expected finding on percussion over the affected area.
What is dullness?
This is a functional test used to assess disease severity and track decline over time in candidates for a lung transplant
What is the six-minute walk test?
This is the primary way that obstructive lung diseases and restrictive lung diseases differ. (Use your physiology terms!)
What is obstruction impairs airflow while restriction impairs volume?
This is a chronic lung disease of infancy that is defined by the need for supplemental oxygen beyond 36 weeks postmenstrual age.
What is Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD)?
This is the approximate flow rate in L/min that should be used with a nasal cannula to deliver a 28% FiO₂.
What is 2 L/min?
This physical exam finding would be expected to return to the right middle lobe after using Active Cycle Breathing to clear secretions.
What are vesicular breath sounds?
This type of injury restricts breathing primarily due to pain, and can be managed with analgesia and splinting.
What are typical rib fractures (or breaks in a single place in each rib)?
This is the medical term for a condition where alveoli are filled with fluid but remain expanded, as seen in pneumonia.
What is consolidation?
This is the type of restrictive lung condition caused by three or more consecutive ribs being fractured in two or more places.
What is a flail chest?
This type of ventilation delivers positive pressure through a sealed mask without using an artificial airway.
What is noninvasive ventilation?
This term describes the movement of an unstable chest wall segment inward during inspiration and outward during expiration, as seen in a flail chest.
What is paradoxical breathing?
This is a method to clear secretions from a specific lung lobe, for which the return of vesicular breath sounds would be an indicator of success.
What is the Active Cycle of Breathing?
This is the primary cause of poor cough and secretion clearance in a patient with a spinal cord injury at the C4 level.
What is the loss of diaphragm, intercostal, and abdominal muscle function?
This is the second most common indication for a lung transplant, after emphysema
What is idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis?
According to guidelines, this is the SpO₂ threshold at rest on room air that serves as an absolute indication for long-term supplemental oxygen therapy.
What is ≤88%?
This physical exam sign, characterized by an "E-to-A" change on auscultation, would be expected to disappear after the successful clearance of lung consolidation.
What is egophony?
This is the principle of positioning a patient with a unilateral lung issue, such as atelectasis, to improve V/Q matching.
What is the 'good lung down' principle?
Conditions like pleural effusion, kyphoscoliosis, and obesity are examples of diagnoses that can lead to this pattern of respiratory impairment.
What are restrictive lung conditions?
This condition refers to the collapse or incomplete inflation of alveoli, resulting in loss of lung volume in the affected region.
What is atelectasis?
This is the physiological effect of increased intrathoracic pressure on the heart, which may improve cardiac output in conditions like left-sided heart failure.
What is a reduction in venous return and afterload?