Fluid in LUNGS???

As I was reading your question I was thinking that in another time these would have made very good essay questions for a pathophysiology class! So, I'll try to give you a shortened essay type of answer and apologize to those who find I might have left anything out.

Fluids can be composed of many different substances: water and blood come to mind. The cells and tissues of our body contain fluids that are rich in many different substances that include electrolytes, proteins and a lot of other things. Any one of these types of fluid can build up in the lungs or the pleural space, which is the space formed by the protective membrane that surrounds the lungs. In particular, if we aren't careful in how we feed patients, liquids can end up going down into the lungs rather than the stomach. The result is fluid, of one type of another, in the lungs.

How the fluid gets there in the lung is another thing. It can build up through the natural processes of the body or through some kind of trauma. In a number of disease situations, our normal body fluids will build up in the lungs. It can be due to a problem with the heart, the kidneys or the liver. It can be due to a cancer. The fluid can be pus which is a byproduct of the body trying to fight off an infection in the lung. It can be blood due to the trauma of being stabbed or shot with a bullet resulting in the rupture of one of more blood vessels in the area hemorrhaging directly into the lung tissue.

Each of these conditions has a medical term and diagnosis for them. When you get into nursing school, and perhaps even before, you will be learning about them. Most nursing students first have to learn normal anatomy and physiology of the lung. Next, they learn the pathophysiology of the lung, that is, what happens when the normal physiology goes haywire. We nurses learn what we can do to help assist the patients in coping with those situations as well as carrying out the doctor's orders in treating them. Doesn't that make you excited?

Here's a few links to websites about some of the conditions I mentioned above where you can read about them. I chose them from consumer websites so they weren't too technical to understand. Happy reading!

• http://www.emedicinehealth.com/asthma/article_em.htm - An asthma attach causes the air passageways to become irritated and the mucus glands go into overdrive causing fluid to build up in the lungs
  
• http://www.emedicinehealth.com/bacterial_pneumonia/article_em.htm - Bacterial pneumonia not only causes irritation in the air passages from but the build up of pus as well, all of which result in fluid build up in the lungs
  
• http://www.emedicinehealth.com/bronchitis/article_em.htm - Bronchitis, especially chronic bronchitis
  
• http://www.emedicinehealth.com/chronic_obstructive_pulmonary_disease_copd/article_em.htm - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
  
• http://www.emedicinehealth.com/collapsed_lung/article_em.htm - Collapsed lung
  
• http://www.emedicinehealth.com/congestive_heart_failure/article_em.htm - Congestive Heart Failure
  
• http://www.emedicinehealth.com/drowning/article_em.htm - Drowning
  
• http://www.emedicinehealth.com/lung_cancer/article_em.htm - Lung cancer
  
• http://www.emedicinehealth.com/allergic_reaction/article_em.htm - Allergic reaction
  
• http://firstaid.about.com/od/softtissueinjuries/ht/07_gunshots.htm - Gunshot wounds

Edema collects in the cells and tissues of the legs for two primary reasons:

1. Osmotic pressure between the intravascular space and the extravascular space is unequal and the body is attempting to equalize it, or
   
2. There is an underlying problem with the heart as a pump, or
   
3. There is an underlying problem with the vasculature in the lower extremities

The result is that fluid gets trapped in the cells and tissues of the legs and feet. You will learn about these problems when you deepen your study of fluids and electrolytes and your study of the heart and cardiovascular system. The renal system plays some involvement in this as well. I was just discussing the underlying problem of an obstetrical patient's leg edema with another student who was working on a care plan yesterday and this morning at this thread: https://allnurses.com/forums/f8/help-w-goal-outcome-232240.html