Respiratory emergencies in ICU

Abstract

Respiratory emergencies represent an important part of acute medicine in general. Respiratory emergencies also play a crucial part in critical care medicine and constitute an important share of the numerous problems in an intensive care unit. Understanding the anatomy and normal physiology of respiratory system is a must to understand the nature of respiratory diseases and emergencies. Also it targets the management towards correction of the pathology to the normal physiology and intact anatomy. Respiratory emergencies can arise from an abnormality in any of the components of the respiratory system, including the airways, alveoli, pleura, pulmonary circulation, central nervous system, peripheral nervous system, respiratory muscles and chest wall. Evaluation of patients admitted to ICU with respiratory problem is often a challenge, since the differential diagnosis is a broad. So making correct diagnosis by proper evaluation of clinical status, understanding the significance of the tests of pulmonary function and the pulmonary imaging studies is essential. General and local examinations are very important because symptoms and signs present during respiratory emergencies vary according to the underlying pathology. Most common symptoms occurs in respiratory emergencies are cough, expectoration, haemptysis, dypsnea and chest pain.