Respiratory failure is a serious medical condition caused by damage or injury to the lungs, airway obstruction, heart dysfunction, or problems with the brain. It can result in low blood oxygen levels or high carbon dioxide levels. Treatment requires determining and addressing the cause, and may involve mechanical ventilation. It can be acute or chronic and can be fatal. Patients may choose not to pursue aggressive treatment in the final stages of the disease.
Respiratory failure is a serious medical condition in which the gas exchange that normally occurs in the lungs is disrupted. As a result, the patient may have low blood oxygen levels or high carbon dioxide levels, or both, depending on what is causing the respiratory failure. This condition requires medical attention, as patients can die due to respiratory failure.
The pathophysiology of respiratory failure can be quite variable. In some cases, it involves damage or injury to the lungs, ranging from cancer to a chest wall injury that causes one lung to collapse. Airway obstruction can also be a cause. Heart dysfunction can also lead to respiratory failure, as the heart may not be pumping blood well enough for gas exchange. Problems with the areas of the brain that handle breathing can also lead to respiratory failure.
In hypoxemic insufficiency, the patient’s blood is not sufficiently oxygenated. Hypercapnic forms involve too much carbon dioxide in the blood, indicating that the patient is unable to expel carbon dioxide. It is also possible that both conditions are present. Patients may have acute respiratory failure, in which the condition comes on very quickly, or a chronic form, which occurs over a long period of time. People with chronic forms may not realize what’s going on, as their bodies will adjust over time.
Treatment of this condition requires that the cause be determined and addressed. If a patient is in immediate distress, mechanical ventilation can be used to deliver oxygen to the patient and to keep the body’s systems functioning while diagnostic tests are performed to find out why the patient’s respiratory system is not functioning as it normally would. Acute respiratory failure may require hospitalization even if the patient does not require mechanical ventilation.
A patient can go into respiratory arrest and stop breathing altogether, which is a very dangerous and undesirable situation. Medical professionals usually try to manage respiratory failure so that a patient does not go into complete arrest. Even with treatment, patients can die from this condition because it may not be possible to manage the cause. Respiratory failure can also occur during the final stages of the disease, in which case a patient may not want to pursue aggressive treatment in the interests of a more dignified death. For example, a patient may specify that they do not want to be on a ventilator.
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