Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

PPS symptoms include periods of extreme muscle weakness and fatigue, muscle pain, irregular heartbeat, and in rare cases difficulty breathing or swallowing. This last can be life threatening and require a trip to the emergency room. Episodes of severe weakness in the arms and legs are the major symptom. Typically, these episodes occur during sleep, early morning, or after strenuous activity. Cold, stress, and alcohol may also produce attacks(med.nyu.edu). Some people with certain types of PPS can be at risk for hyperthermia, which is when the body fails to regulate its body temperature and it skyrockets. This can occur during surgery under anesthesia.

1. A physician is called to the intensive care unit to provide care for a patient who received second- and third-degree burns over 50 percent of his body due to a chemical fire. The patient is in respiratory distress and is suffering from severe dehydration. The physician provides support for two hours. Later that day the physician returns and provides an additional hour of critical care support to the patient.

Prerenal acute renal failure- accounts for 60% of cases of ARF- is the most common cause of ARF and is caused by impaired renal blood flow. The GFR drops because of the decrease in filtration pressure. Poor perfusion can result from hypovolemia, hemorrhage, renal vasoconstricition, hypotension, or inadequate cardiac output. This type of renal failure may occur when chronic renal failure exists if a sudden stress is imposed on already marginally functioning kidneys. If blood volume or blood pressure and oxygen delivery is not restored, cell injury and acute tubular necrosis or acute interstitial necrosis may be caused (Perrin, 2009).

On his death certificate they declared his cause to be Sepsis by an unknown origin. Sepsis is defined as a systemic inflammatory response that occurs within the body due infection within the bloodstream. Common sites for infection that cause sepsis include pneumonia, kidney infections, or abdominal infections. The infection can be either bacterial, viral, or fungal. The most common gram positive organisms include staphylococcus aureus and enterococci. Common gram negative organisms include pseudomonas species and E. coli.

When I think about acute disease, I usually associate the term with viruses. Influenza is a viral infection that affects the respiratory system and can spread when the infected person coughs or sneeze. Symptoms that connected to the virus are aching muscles, chills and sore throat. The illness can last up to a week. Norovirus is another viral infection that can spread through food, water or close contact with an infected individual. Symptoms of nausea, vomiting, and watery diarrhea can be experienced between 12 to 48 hours from exposure and last up to 3-4 days. This virus I found interesting because of how fast it develop and leave a person. There are also bacterial diseases that can be acute such as Salmonella which affects the intestines. It is usually a result of the bacteria being within contaminated food or water. The symptoms can include fever, vomiting and blood in the stool. Symptoms are present within the first and third day and can last between 4-7days in the body. Another acute bacterial infection is Campylobacter enteritis which is usually contributed to food poisoning. The symptoms of nausea, vomiting and watery diarrhea would likely kick in between 2-4 days following the exposure of the bacteria. The fifth acute disease that I reviewed was acute bronchitis which is an inflammation of the bronchial tubes which would be a result of having a cold or

Acute chest syndrome has been studied extensively in the past due to two reasons. First, it is the leading cause of death in patients with sickle cell disease. Secondly, there is not optimal treatment for acute chest syndrome. This is because there are so many factors that can cause it. Pulmonary fat embolism can cause acute chest syndrome, but so can viral infections, bacterial infections, and mixed infections (Vichinsky, 2000). While there are so many causes of acute chest syndrome, the most noticeable was pulmonary fat embolism, which account for 8.8% of all acute chest syndrome occurrences (Vichinsky, 2000). On table 4, you can see each disease that caused the onset of acute chest syndrome, and how many people it affected.

The American Association for Respiratory Care is a non-profit organization which provides numerous resources for registered respiratory therapists all over the United States. Membership through the AARC renders an abundance of incentives such as professional development, respiratory care education, social networking opportunities, continuing education programs and much more. The American Association for Respiratory Care truly believes in the cause of respiratory therapy and in the rights of their patients to receive competent respiratory care. Their advocacy team works with local, state and federal governments concerning public policies that affect their patients as well as their profession.

According to the American Lung Association, “Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a rapidly progressive disease occurring in critically ill patients.” ARDS is an extreme manifestation of a lung injury that can be associated with an acute medical problem. This occurs as a result of direct or indirect trauma to the lungs. With nearly 200,000 cases in the United States each year, ARDS is not extremely common (“Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome”). Most people who acquire this disease are critically ill patients within the hospital. The most common predisposing medical problems of ARDS consist of: shock, trauma, pulmonary infections, sepsis, aspiration, and cardiopulmonary bypass (Ignatavicious, 2013). ARDS is a severe syndrome and even with prompt and aggressive medical treatment, almost fifty percent of those diagnosed do not survive. Those who survive have a longer hospital stay along with recurring hospital admissions throughout their lifetime (“Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome”). Acute respiratory distress syndrome is a rapidly progressive disease which requires thorough assessment, rapid diagnosis, and emergency treatment measures in order to successfully respond to the disease process.

B. Pathophysiology – Sepsis is described as a generalized infection that is characterized by the presence of bacteria in the blood. The progression of how sepsis becomes septic shock is not completely understood. First the body will contract an infection and the bacteria will move beyond the “initial insult” into the blood stream, a.k.a bacteremia (Stork). As a response the body will start

Sepsis is the immune response to the body’s defense against the infection. The disease is commonly caused by bacterial infections but can also be caused by other factors and usually begins in the lungs, abdomen, or urinary tract. The virus can be spread anywhere in the body as well as enter anywhere in the body with incidents as minor as scraping your knee or nicking yourself with a bad razor. Since sepsis is so common, the risk of getting the infection is greater when people

The practical level would be the code level that the American Association of Respiratory Care falls under. According to the text, the practical level is set up to be achieved by a majority of people with the attempt to follow the rules most of the time. Unlike the other code levels, the practical level fits the medical professions more closely. When a persons career or job involves the safety of another living beings life, I believe it is very important to follow the rules all of the time, as well as majority of workers should do so as well . Rules and principles are put in place to prevent harm to patients and also to protect the employees from harm. The AARC' code of ethics is really a safety guideline for everyone in that specific environment.

Fuller, B. M., Mohr, N. M., Skrupky, L., Fowler, S., Kollef, M. H., & Carpenter, C. R. (2015). The use of inhaled prostaglandins in patients with ARDS. Chest, 147(6), 1510-1522. doi:10.1378/chest.14-3161

In the article, Acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome: Two challenging respiratory disorders, I learned about how difficult it is to diagnose a deadly respiratory disorder. Acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress (ARDS) is a secondary illness resulting from a primary disease that has been largely ignored by the veterinary community, but initial early recognition of the disease is paramount to providing a full recovery. This compounding disorder primarily affects the lungs and its associated passages and membranes in the respiratory system which becomes deadlier as it progresses. The three phases of this disease are the exudative phase, the proliferative phase, and the fibrotic phase. In order to suspect this

A research study can be broken out into 4 different parts: topic, problem, purpose and questions. Aligning these components will make the article cohesive in its content and guarantee that the author is staying on track. I examined three scholarly articles that describe studies related to the field of Respiratory Therapy. I reviewed each article to determine the topic, problem, purpose and question to see if the authors were able to maintain alignment throughout the article.

Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is a common lung disorder that mostly affects preterm infants. RDS is caused by insufficient surfactant production and structural immaturity of the lungs leading to alveolar collapse. Clinically, RDS presents soon after birth with tachypnea, nasal flaring, grunting, retractions, hypercapnia, and/or an oxygen need. The usual course is clinical worsening followed by recovery in 3 to 5 days as adequate surfactant production occurs. Research in the prevention and treatment of this disease has led to major improvements in the care of preterm infants with RDS and increased survival. However, RDS remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality especially in the most preterm infants. This chapter reviews the most current evidence-based management of RDS, including prevention, delivery room stabilization, respiratory management, and supportive care.