What are the symptoms of respiratory failure?

Written by Han Shun Li
Pulmonology
Updated on September 28, 2024
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Respiratory failure is a common critical condition in clinical settings. At the stage of respiratory failure, patients often experience severe discomfort and pain. Common symptoms include difficulty breathing, with many patients showing obvious respiratory distress, often needing to sit upright to breathe, profuse sweating, and an inability to continue normal activity. Additionally, cyanosis can occur, indicating very severe hypoxia. Symptoms of pulmonary encephalopathy, such as mental confusion, convulsions, and agitation, may also appear. In severe cases, patients may even fall into a coma. Hence, at the stage of respiratory failure, patients suffer considerably.

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Written by Han Shun Li
Pulmonology
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Clinical manifestations of respiratory failure

Respiratory failure is one of the common critical illnesses. So, what are the clinical manifestations of respiratory failure? Firstly, there is difficulty breathing, which is the most common symptom of respiratory failure. Most patients experience noticeable difficulty breathing, and in severe cases, patients may sit upright to breathe, sweat profusely, and appear very distressed. Another symptom is cyanosis, a typical sign of oxygen deficiency. Mild cases may show cyanosis at the extremities and lips, while severe cases can exhibit cyanosis throughout the body. Additional symptoms can include neurological and psychological symptoms such as confusion, mania, convulsions, coma, and drowsiness. Due to the oxygen deficiency affecting various systems, other systems may also show corresponding symptoms, such as tachycardia and arrhythmia in the circulatory system, and potential upper gastrointestinal bleeding in the digestive system.

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Written by Peng Miao Yun
Internal Medicine
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Respiratory failure is a disease.

Respiratory failure is a condition caused by severe impairment of lung ventilation and gas exchange functions due to various reasons, leading to ineffective gas exchange. This results in hypoxia in the body, accompanied by either retention or non-retention of carbon dioxide, thereby causing a clinical syndrome of physiological and metabolic disorders. The causes of respiratory failure include diseases of the lung tissue, respiratory tract disorders, pulmonary vascular diseases, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, among other factors, all of which can lead to respiratory failure.

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Written by Han Shun Li
Pulmonology
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What are the symptoms of respiratory failure?

Respiratory failure is a common and serious condition in clinical settings, often categorized as an acute and critical illness. Simply put, respiratory failure occurs when respiratory function is extremely poor. It is caused by severe impairment of pulmonary ventilation and gas exchange due to various reasons. Even at rest, sufficient gas exchange cannot be maintained, leading to serious hypoxemia or concurrent hypercapnia. Clinically, this often presents with severe breathing difficulties, hypoxia, cyanosis, and requires immediate intervention to prevent potentially life-threatening complications.

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Written by Peng Miao Yun
Internal Medicine
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Respiratory failure classified by etiology

Respiratory failure can be classified according to its causes into four types. The first type involves diseases of the airway such as bronchial inflammation, bronchiectasis, and foreign body obstruction, leading to insufficient ventilation. The second type is due to lung tissue diseases, such as pneumonia, severe tuberculosis, emphysema, diffuse pulmonary fibrosis, adult respiratory distress syndrome, etc., causing a state of hypoxia and carbon dioxide retention due to ventilatory defects. The third type includes pulmonary vascular diseases, such as pulmonary vascular embolism and pulmonary infarction, which cause part of the venous blood to flow into the pulmonary veins, resulting in hypoxia. The fourth type involves diseases of the thoracic cage such as chest trauma, surgical trauma, pneumothorax, and pleural effusion, which affect daily activities and lung expansion, leading to insufficient lung ventilation and resulting in respiratory failure.

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Written by Peng Miao Yun
Internal Medicine
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How to administer oxygen for respiratory failure

If patients with respiratory failure undergo oxygen therapy, it is necessary to choose different therapy plans based on the type of respiratory failure. In the case of Type I respiratory failure, there is simply a lack of oxygen. For Type II respiratory failure, there is not only a lack of oxygen but also an accumulation of carbon dioxide. Therefore, for Type I respiratory failure, the oxygen flow can be higher, over five liters per minute, and the patient can continuously receive oxygen without causing significant side effects. However, for Type II respiratory failure, it is essential to control the oxygen flow at a low rate, under three liters per minute, otherwise, it may lead to other complications.