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Blunt Chest Glossary
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure(CPAP) - PEEP in conjunction with a spontaneous breath through an apparatus designed to maintain airway pressure fluctuations above and below the baseline to no greater extent than would be present with normal spontaneous breathing.
contusion - generally refers to interstitial pulmonary bleeding following chest trauma. Lung contusions rarely produce symptoms within the first few hours following trauma, but may result in significant hypoxemia and decreased compliance in the first several days following chest trauma. Severe lung contusion presents on chest x-ray as a totally white lung.
differential lung ventilation - ventilation in which each lung can be ventilated independently of one another with different modes or settings.
double lumen tube - an endotracheal tube with two channels designed to provide differential lung ventilation. One lumen provides ventilation to the right lung, the other to the left lung.
Glasgow Coma Scale - a form of bedside testing which is performed to estimate whether the patient's neurologic condition is deteriorating or improving. It checks such things as pupil size and reactivity, eye movements, motor functions, body temperature, pulse and respiratory rate, arterial blood pressure, and other pertinent data so that changes may be recognized early and appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic measures instituted. A score of 7 = coma. A score of 14 = fully alert.
hemothorax - blood in the pleural cavity.
high frequency positive pressure ventilation (HFPPV) - refers to the delivery of small tidal volumes through an insufflation catheter or endotracheal tube with circuitry having a minimal compressible volume. The characteristic rate is 60 - 100 cycles per minute with inspiration taking 20% to 30% of the total cycle time.
pneumothorax - air or gas in the pleural cavity resulting from a free communication between the atmosphere and the pleural space either via the lung or the chest wall.
positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP) - refers to positive pressure applied to the airway at end exhalation during mechanical positive pressure breaths. For example, 5 cm H20 PEEP would raise the baseline pressure to a + 5 cm H20 pressure rather than allowing pressure to return to zero during exhalation. The purpose of PEEP is to increase the volume of gas present in the lungs at end exhalation.
Swan-Ganz catheter - brand name for a pulmonary artery catheter which is a long, thin, very flexible, catheter with an inflatable balloon at the tip. It is flow-directed by the inflated balloon which carries it through the heart to a pulmonary artery. When it is positioned in a small arterial branch, pulmonary artery wedge pressure is measured in front of the temporarily inflated and wedged balloon. The catheter can also measure pulmonary artery pressure, central venous pressure, mixed venous oxygen saturation, cardiac output, and heart rate.
