Respiratory failure, the classification of which is built taking into account many components, is a disease that leads to insufficient gas exchange in the body.
As a result, the patient’s blood is not saturated with oxygen, the heart rate quickens, the general condition of the body becomes very unsatisfactory. The classification of
respiratory failure takes into account the causes of the onset of the disease, especially its course, severity and other factors. When making a diagnosis, the doctor summarizes all these factors and prescribes a comprehensive treatment.
Classification of respiratory failure by type
- Obstructive type. It arises due to the narrowing of the vessels along which air moves. This condition is possible with bronchitis, obstructive pulmonary disease.
- Restrictive type. It is associated with a decrease in the respiratory surface of the lung. This can happen with tuberculosis, pneumonia, and some other diseases.
- Mixed type.
Classification of the course of the disease
- Chronic Develops over the years. Its cause is a disease that gradually affects the lungs or bronchi, nervous system or muscles. First manifested in mild shortness of breath. Later shortness of breath intensifies, cyanosis develops, and heart function deteriorates.
- Acute respiratory failure. The classification says that with acute attacks a person feels a sharp asphyxiation. The skin turns blue, the pressure rises sharply, then also drops sharply. Symptoms increase very quickly. Mental disorders are possible due to the development of suffocation. The causes may be injuries, colds or viral diseases, poisoning.
Classification of respiratory failure by etiopathogenetic factors
- Bronchopulmonary. It can be obstructive, restrictive, diffusion. The latter develops as a result of pulmonary fibrosis, thromboembolism, malformations.
- Neuromuscular It develops against the background of improper functioning of muscles, damage to motor neurons, nerve endings.
- Centrogenic. Most often observed with brain injuries, impaired consciousness. A special danger lies in the fact that, in addition to the malfunctioning of the respiratory center located in the brain, the patient is threatened with retraction of the tongue, clogging of the respiratory tract with blood and stomach contents.
- Thoracodiaphragmatic occurs with injuries of the chest, a violation of its mobility and capacity.
According to the severity of the disease
- At the initial degree (first), shortness of breath is seen only in a state of increased physical exertion.
- The second is characterized by severe shortness of breath with habitual and minor exertion.
- The strongest third degree: shortness of breath in a state of complete rest.
By type of gas exchange disorder
- Hypoxemic, in which the level of oxygen in the arterial blood decreases.
- Hypercapnic, which most often develops with bronchitis and other diseases.
There are some more factors on which the classification of respiratory failure can be built. Doctors also distinguish several types of disease, given its pathogenesis. From this point of view, diffusion ventilation and mixed insufficiency are distinguished.