RESPIRATION ABNORMALITIES

RESPIRATION ABNORMALITIES: Excerpt from Algorithmic Diagnosis of Symptoms and Signs

Ask the Following Questions:

1. Is the respiration rapid? The presence of rapid respiration indicates dyspnea and may be caused by shock, congestive heart failure, asthma, emphysema, and other disorders.
2. Is the respiration slow? The presence of slow respiration should suggest diabetes mellitus, alcoholic stupor, uremia, opium poisoning, cerebral concussion, and metabolic acidosis from other causes.
3. Are the breaths irregular or alternating fast and slow? This would suggest Cheyne-Stokes respiration or Biot's breathing, and the causes to consider are coma, congestive heart failure, uremia, tuberculosis, bacterial meningitis, typhoid fever, chorea, and many other conditions.
4. Are the breaths deep or shallow? The presence of deep respiration should suggest metabolic acidosis due to diabetes mellitus, renal failure, alcoholic stupor, or respiratory alkalosis from salicylate intoxication. The presence of shallow respiration would suggest uremia, opium poisoning, and concussion.

DIAGNOSTIC WORKUP

The basic workup includes a CBC, sedimentation rate, urinalysis, chemistry panel, EKG, chest x-ray, urine drug screen, blood alcohol level, arterial blood gases, and pulmonary function tests. If there is fever, blood cultures, febrile agglutinins, and tuberculin and other skin tests may be ordered. If there is coma, further diagnostic workup may be found on page 84 . If there is dyspnea, further diagnostic workup may be found on page 131 .

Book Source Details

• Book Title: Algorithmic Diagnosis of Symptoms and Signs
• Author(s): R. Douglas Collins
• Year of Publication: 2003
• Copyright Details: Algorithmic Diagnosis of Symptoms and Signs, Copyright © 2003 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

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Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

More About This Book: Title: Algorithmic Diagnosis of Symptoms and Signs Authors: R. Douglas Collins Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Copyright: 2003 ISBN: 0-7817-3805-9

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