respiratory syncytial virus
respiratory distress
causes
upper respiratorytract infection

Respiratory Distress

"Suspect a thoracic injury with any sort of trauma!"

1.  Description of important terms used in conjunction with respiratory distress.

      • Respiratory distress - outwardly evident, physically labored ventilation or respiratory efforts; clinically evident inability to adequately ventilate and/or oxygenate. This is currently the preferred term to use in referring to veterinary patients who present with severe respiratory difficulty.
      • Dyspnea -this term implies conscious perception of "air hunger" or a sense of shortness of breath, and is subjective in nature. This term is not ideal to use in reference to veterinary patients, as they cannot relay this sense or perception of respiratory difficulty.
      • Tachypnea - greater than normal respiratory rate.
      • Orthopnea - increased respiratory distress when the patient is lying down or the chest is compressed.
      • Hyperventilation - ventilation that exceeds metabolic demands; defined as ventilation causing a reduction in PaCO2 < 35 mmHg at sea level [< 28 mm Hg in Fort Collins] (hypocapnia)
      • Hypoventilation - ventilation that does not meet metabolic demands; by definition, ventilation that results in a PaCO2 > 45 mmHg at sea level [38 mmHg in Fort Collins] (hypercapnia, hypercarbia, ventilatory failure).
      • Apnea - cessation of breathing for an indeterminate period.
2.  Describe the causes of respiratory distress in trauma.
Pneumothorax -- Open or Closed
Pulmonary Contusions
Airway Obstruction
Flail Chest
Tension Pneumothorax
Hemothorax
Diaphragmatic Hernia

3. What is acute hypercapnic respiratory failure?

Hypercapnic respiratory failure is defined as acute respiratory distress resulting in an arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) greater than 45 mmHg. Typically, this involves abnormalities with central nervous system control of respiration, the peripheral nervous system as it interacts with the respiratory apparatus, the chest wall/bellows apparatus, and/or the airways involved with gas transport. Hypercapnic respiratory failure is thus often called "respiratory pump failure" or "ventilatory failure."

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