Clinics in chest medicine
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The management of the pulseless, nonbreathing pediatric patient continues to be a frustrating experience because mortality and morbidity are high. Improvement in outcome awaits a better understanding of the pathophysiology of organ ischemia and reperfusion injury. In the interim, early recognition and therapy of respiratory and circulatory failure are the only effective means to affect outcome. ⋯ Ventricular arrhythmias are treated with defibrillation or cardioversion as appropriate. Infrequently, lidocaine or bretylium may be needed. Once the patient has been stabilized, further care is best delivered at a tertiary care center with a pediatric intensive care unit.
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Clinics in chest medicine · Dec 1987
ReviewThe normal and abnormal pediatric upper airway. Recognition and management of obstruction.
The pediatric airway is particularly vulnerable to obstruction because of its anatomy, size, and susceptibility to disease and trauma. This article concentrates on the differences between the pediatric and adult airway, congenital and acquired pathology affecting the airway, and the recognition and management of obstruction.
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Invasive monitoring is an important aspect of the care of the infant or child with multisystem organ dysfunction or severe acute respiratory failure. The indications for these procedures in children vary little from current recommendations for adults. The size, anatomy, physiologic responses, and pathophysiologic processes in children frequently require modifications in the placement and maintenance of these lines, and in the interpretation of the data. The literature suggests that although the absolute numbers may vary, broad therapeutic goals may be identified and treated in pediatric patients as in older patients.
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The physical examination, that is, inspection, palpation, and auscultation, is as valuable today as it ever was, even for structures as inaccessible as the heart and pulmonary circulation. Examination of the heart in patients with lung disease aims to detect changes in the structures or function of the right heart that are secondary to the pulmonary process and to detect the circulatory status of the patient. The most important cause of changes in the right ventricle in patients with lung disease is increased afterload caused by pulmonary hypertension. Auscultation remains one of the most sensitive means of detecting pulmonary hypertension, and the physical signs allow assessment of right ventricular function as well as response to therapy.
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Multiple physiologic and psychologic factors contribute to the sensation of acute as well as chronic dyspnea. The causes of acute dyspnea frequently can be established by a brief history, physical examination, and chest radiograph. Appropriate therapy should be directed to reversing the specific etiology leading to the acute onset of breathlessness. ⋯ This baseline assessment provides objective information for evaluating response to treatment. Initial therapy for improving chronic breathlessness should be directed at the specific cause of the problem. Additional strategies for reducing dyspnea include breathing techniques, exercise training, nutritional manipulations, psychologic interventions, respiratory muscle training, respiratory muscle rest, and sedative/hypnotic medications.