Module 4 Discussion

Gas Exchange

Mr. Nguyen is a 58-year-old patient that had septic shock and developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. He is orally intubated and on a mechanical ventilator. He is paralyzed and sedated.

What manifestations might you observe for a patient with ARDS?

What complications can Mr. Nguyen develop from being mechanically ventilated?

List priority nursing interventions to prevent complications associated with ventilatory support.

What interventions can be implemented specifically to prevent the development of Ventilator Acquired Pneumonia (VAP)?

You are orienting in the ICU, the nurse you are working with is not implementing the VAP interventions. What would you do?

 

MORE INFO 

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Introduction

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a life-threatening condition that affects the body’s ability to oxygenate and circulate blood. According to the American Lung Association, ARDS makes up about 20 percent of all lung disease-related deaths in the United States. ARDS can occur for several reasons, including lung injury during surgery or trauma, lung infections like pneumonia or tuberculosis, heart or lung diseases like asthma or heart disease, and other health problems like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Section:Definition

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a serious condition that occurs when the lungs become filled with fluid. This can happen because of damage to the lungs from infections, heart attacks or other conditions. ARDS can be life-threatening if it isn’t treated quickly enough.

ARDS is caused by a variety of conditions including pneumonia, aspiration pneumonia and lung cancer.

The cause of ARDS isn’t fully understood but there are some things you can do to help prevent it:

Section:Causes

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a serious condition that can occur when the lungs become inflamed and fail to function properly. It’s most often caused by inflammation of lung tissue, but it may also be caused by heart failure or airway obstruction.

ARDs occurs in people who have an increase in lung pressure due to several conditions:

• Pneumonia: If you have pneumonia and your lungs are already swollen because of the infection, then this will cause an even larger increase in pressure inside your chest cavity. The swelling makes it hard for oxygen to get into the blood vessels leading from your heart; this condition causes more fluid buildup in both lungs and liver cells—which could lead to shock if not treated promptly.* Massive blood transfusion: With heavy bleeding due to trauma or surgery gone wrong; certain medications used during treatment with chemotherapy drugs such as doxorubicin (Adriamycin); or overmedicating patients who aren’t taking enough medication for their illness.* Trauma: When someone suffers severe injury from an accident where there has been significant trauma such as burns from firefighting efforts at home fires where victims were trapped inside burning homes unable escape safely before firefighters arrived on scene.”

Section:Risk factors

There are a number of factors that can increase your risk of developing ARDS. These include:

• Infection. If you have an infection, such as pneumonia or tuberculosis, your lungs may become inflamed and damaged by the toxins in your blood. This makes it more likely that you’ll develop ARDS.

• Pneumonia. In this case, bacteria invade the lining of your lungs and cause inflammation there too—which is why patients with pneumonia often need to take antibiotics before they start getting better (or get worse).

• Fluids in lung tissues (pulmonary edema). Fluid builds up within their airways if fluid leaks into them from elsewhere; this causes swelling around their windpipe called intrapulmonary alveolar flooding

Section:Symptoms

• Difficult breathing

• Rapid breathing

• Coughing up blood

• Fever

Section:Complications

• Pneumothorax: This is a rare condition in which air collects in the space between the lung and chest wall. The pneumothorax can be life-threatening, so it must be treated quickly by opening up your chest or inserting a tube through your mouth into your airway to drain out the air.

• Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP): Pneumonia develops when bacteria enter your lungs while on mechanical ventilation with a machine that keeps you breathing for long periods of time. VAP is most common in patients who are chronically ventilated due to heart failure or other conditions such as cancer treatment or lung disease, but some people get it when they are first admitted to hospital after surgery or trauma.* Sepsis: Sepsis occurs when there is an overwhelming infection and causes widespread damage within the body.* Respiratory failure: This occurs when you become unable to breathe either because of injury from an accident or illness such as asthma.* Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD): This condition makes it difficult for oxygen from inhaled air passing through tiny passageways called bronchi into larger tubes called bronchioles where carbon dioxide leaves without being absorbed by capillaries.*

Section:Diagnosis

To make the diagnosis of acute respiratory distress syndrome, your doctor will examine you and perform additional tests. They’ll check for signs of sepsis (an infection), including fever, tachycardia (rapid heartbeat) and hypotension (low blood pressure). Your doctor might also want to take a chest X-ray to see if there are signs of lung involvement or damage.

In some cases, doctors use lung function tests to confirm the diagnosis. These include:

• Forced vital capacity test that measures how much air your lungs can hold in reserve before they become short of breath; this number is usually lower than normal when someone has ARDS due to decreased alveolar compliance caused by inflammation in their lungs

Section:Treatment

• Oxygen therapy.

• Ventilator.

• Other treatments.

If you or a loved one is experiencing the symptoms of ARDS, please contact your doctor immediately.

If you or a loved one is experiencing the symptoms of ARDS, please contact your doctor immediately. If you or a family member has been diagnosed with ARDS and are in need of assistance with treatment, please call 911 immediately to report your condition.

Conclusion

If you or a loved one is experiencing the symptoms of ARDS, please contact your doctor immediately.