ineffective breathing pattern vs inadequate gas exhange?

morte, LPN, LVN · Apr 14, 2010

ineffective breathing pattern would seem to apply to the mechanics of getting the air into the lungs?

and inadequate gas exchange refers to the alveolar level exchange of o2 and co2?

having never dealt with ARDS, i will leave that to someone else, lol

suzers26 · Apr 14, 2010

Info on ARDS....

http://www.ards.org/learnaboutards/whatisards/brochure/

Basically it's injury at the alveolar level that impairs gas exchange. Which in turn would more than likely cause an ineffective breathing pattern & increased heart rate, etc....cuz the body is trying to compensate for the inadequate tissue perfusion.

To be honest, I haven't seen the two diagnosis used together, but I'm only halfway through nursing. But I would think one would definitely lead to the other. i think priority would depend on which one is causing the other. If the pattern is ineffective b/c the body is having trouble meeting O2 demands b/c the gas isn't exchanging I would think working on the gas impairment first would be priority. on the other hand, if the impaired gas exchange is b/c the breathing patterns are ineffective enough that the O2 is not coming in to exchange the gas, or the CO2 is not being exhaled.....

And on the other hand.....following ABC's.....the breathing patterns are the B's, and gas exchange the C's (because it directly affects the perfusion).

Just some ideas off the top of my head. I don't think I'd use them together myself, I'd probably stick with the heart of the problem...breathing patterns or gas exchange? and go from there......good luck!

opensails · Apr 14, 2010

Cool beans! That made a lot of sense. It seems so obvious when you put it that way. And awesome link too.