Expiratory Dyspnea - Causes, Symptoms And Treatment

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 17:49

Expiratory dyspnea: causes and treatment

Expiratory dyspnea is accompanied by difficult exhalation, since there is some kind of obstacle in the path of the air flow that leaves the lungs. Sometimes this dyspnea is called obstructive, and doctors call it "expiratory dyspnea."

In itself, expiratory dyspnea is not a disease, it occurs as a symptom of the underlying pathology. It can be provoked by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchitis, heart failure and more. This is a serious enough violation that should not be ignored.

Content:

• Causes of expiratory dyspnea
• Symptoms of expiratory dyspnea
• First aid rules
• Treatment
• Prevention

Causes of expiratory dyspnea

Expiratory dyspnea does not occur on its own. Of course, a person may suffer from shortness of breath due to reasons unrelated to any disease. For example, shortness of breath always occurs after intense physical activity, but within a few minutes after its completion, it goes away. In addition, physiological shortness of breath is characterized by increased breathing rate and is not accompanied by difficulty breathing out or inhaling.

Expiratory shortness of breath, in which it is difficult for a person to exhale, may indicate the development of diseases such as:

• Bronchitis. This disease is characterized by inflammation of the bronchi. Both bacterial and viral infections can lead to its development. Shortness of breath is more characteristic of the chronic form of bronchitis. In such patients, it occurs not only during physical activity, but also at rest. In addition, a person complains of coughing, increased weakness, and severe sweating. An increase in body temperature is possible. When coughing, viscous sputum leaves, with proper treatment, it liquefies.

• Asthma. Dyspnea in bronchial asthma develops against the background of spasm of the smooth muscles of the bronchi, or due to edema of their mucous membrane. The bronchi are clogged with mucous secretions, and their normal muscle tissue is replaced by connective tissue. All this creates an obstacle to the normal exhalation of air. As a result, the patient develops expiratory dyspnea. The disease has a non-infectious nature. The main cause of bronchial asthma is body allergization. Moreover, allergens can be very diverse. Among them: house dust, fish food, animal dander, food and drug allergens. Frequent respiratory tract infections and heredity factors play a role.
• Emphysema or pneumosclerosis of the lungs. Emphysema is accompanied by pathological changes in the lung tissue with an increase in its airiness against the background of expansion of the alveoli. Tobacco smoking, bronchial asthma, work in hazardous enterprises can provoke the disease. With emphysema, shortness of breath occurs with difficulty exhaling, which is progressive. First, she worries a person during exercise, and then at rest. Patients breathe in through closed lips, puffing out their cheeks. In addition to shortness of breath, patients have a cough, sputum production, cyanosis of the face. In pneumosclerosis, the normal tissue of the lung parenchyma is replaced by connective tissue, the bronchi are deformed, which leads to expiratory dyspnea.

• Lung abscess. With this pathology, the lung tissue straightens with the formation of purulent-necrotic masses. The disease is provoked by the bacterial flora. In addition to shortness of breath, the patient has a dry cough, body temperature rises.
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In the early stages of the disease, shortness of breath worries only with intense exertion. It is accompanied by a cough with mucous sputum. As the pathology progresses, shortness of breath will be felt at rest. Smoking is the main cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It develops in 95% of smokers, so shortness of breath will bother a person more after inhaling tobacco smoke. Other risk factors include occupational hazards, SARS, bronchopulmonary pathologies.
• Chronic glomerulonephritis is accompanied by kidney damage with the development of renal failure. Disorders in the work of the kidneys leads to a persistent increase in blood pressure, the development of heart failure with expiratory dyspnea and cardiac asthma.

• Anaphylactic shock or Quincke's edema. These are severe manifestations of an allergic reaction of the body. The airways are severely swollen, as a result of which the patient develops expiratory or mixed dyspnea. If the victim is not provided with emergency assistance, he may suffocate.
• Angina pectoris and heart failure. When the left ventricle of the heart is damaged, the blood supply to the internal organs deteriorates, the veins are overfilled with blood, and stasis forms in the pulmonary arteries. This leads to the development of shortness of breath. If the negative symptoms are not eliminated, the patient will develop signs of cardiac asthma. This is a severe symptom complex that can provoke choking.

Dyspnea will be caused by ingestion of a foreign body in the respiratory tract. At the same time, dyspnea is mixed (expiratory and inspiratory), when a person experiences difficulties not only with exhalation, but also with inhalation.

Symptoms of expiratory dyspnea

Expiratory dyspnea is characterized by the following symptoms:

• The person has difficulty exhaling.
• He feels the need to increase breathing.
• Sometimes chest pains may appear, for example, against the background of heart failure.
• The skin often turns pale, the lips turn blue.
• The person suffers from excessive sweating.
• During exhalation, you can hear a whistle or a crunch.
• The expiratory length increases significantly, sometimes up to 2 times.
• With drops in intrathoracic pressure, the intercostal spaces either subside or bulge out.
• On exhalation, veins swell in the neck.

Depending on the cause leading to the development of expiratory dyspnea, it will be supplemented by other symptoms characteristic of the underlying disease.

First aid rules

If a person develops expiratory shortness of breath, which is caused by unknown reasons, the first thing to do is call a medical team. Before an ambulance arrives, you can help relieve the victim's breathing. To do this, it is necessary to open all the windows so that fresh air can enter the room. If there are any objects on the patient's body that impede breathing, then they must be removed. You can additionally turn on the fan and direct it towards the person. It's good if you can use an oxygen mask.

Sometimes shortness of breath develops in people with nervous strain and severe stress. In this case, you need to invite the person to sit down, drink water and calm down. The technique of counting to 10 with closed eyes helps a lot.

When shortness of breath occurs against the background of an allergic reaction, it is necessary to eliminate the patient's contact with the allergen and offer him antihistamines.

Do not put the patient to bed, it is better to give his body a half-sitting position. So the blood will flow better from the lungs and heart, which will quickly relieve an attack of shortness of breath and suffocation.

Sometimes you can cope with shortness of breath by steaming your legs in a basin of hot water. This measure is especially effective for patients with cardiac asthma.

If your room has a humidifier, you can turn it on. This will make the viscous mucus thinner and flush out of your lungs more quickly.

Treatment

Treating expiratory dyspnea as a symptom does not make sense. We need to get rid of the problem that provoked it.

Depending on the disease, the doctor may prescribe the following treatments:

• With bronchitis, the patient will have to drink as much liquid as possible, adhere to bed rest, and stop smoking. Viral bronchitis requires interferon intake. If the disease is caused by the flu, then patients are prescribed Remantadin or Ribavirin. Antibiotics are prescribed when the bacterial flora is attached. It is necessary to supplement therapy with inhalations. These procedures allow you to quickly stop the symptoms of bronchitis, including shortness of breath. Inhalation is performed using saline solutions and mineral water. If shortness of breath accompanies chronic bronchitis, then the patient is prescribed antibiotics, but only after the pathogen of the pathogenic flora has been identified. Breathing exercises help well.
• To eliminate expiratory dyspnea in COPD and to treat the underlying pathology, it will be necessary to perform inhalations with a nebulizer with alkaline and saline solutions. To expand the lumen of the bronchi and facilitate breathing, patients are prescribed bronchodilators. To make sputum easier to leave the bronchi, mucolytics are indicated. During an exacerbation of COPD, antibiotic therapy is required.
• To stop an attack of shortness of breath and suffocation in bronchial asthma, a person is prescribed aerosol beta-adrenomimetics. Inhaling them allows you to quickly expand the lumen of the bronchi, improve sputum discharge and relieve spasm from the airways. One of the effective drugs is Salbutamol. You can also eliminate the attack with the help of drugs from the group of m-anticholinergics. Bronchial asthma is a chronic disease, therefore, it requires the exclusion of contact with allergens, if they can be identified.
• Treatment of pneumosclerosis is reduced to taking bronchodilators, mucolytics, antimicrobial drugs. The severe course of the disease requires surgery with resection of the affected part of the lung.
• With emphysema of the lungs, treatment should be aimed at eliminating the symptoms of pathology. The patient is prescribed bronchodilators for life. Oxygen therapy is performed to facilitate breathing. Breathing exercises have a good effect.
• A lung abscess requires placing the patient in the pulmonary department of the hospital. The patient is prescribed antibiotics. If they do not help, then they perform the operation.
• In chronic glomerulonephritis, the patient is prescribed immunosuppressants, glucocorticosteroids, cytostatics, drugs from the NSAID group. It is imperative to limit the consumption of salt, refuse to take alcoholic beverages.
• A person with shortness of breath, developing against the background of Quincke's edema or anaphylactic shock, requires emergency assistance. If possible, before the arrival of the medical team, you can give the victim an injection of antihistamines, for example, Suprastin.
• Treatment of heart failure, accompanied by expiratory dyspnea, requires the use of vasodilators, ACE inhibitors, cardiac glycosides, Nitroglycerin. Diuretics are prescribed to remove excess fluid from the body. It is possible to cope with shortness of breath in a hospital setting with the help of oxygen inhalation. In severe cases, pleural puncture is required.
• If expiratory dyspnea is caused by cancerous neoplasms of the lung tissue, then the patient needs surgery. Additionally, the patient is prescribed courses of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Treatment of expiratory dyspnea and related diseases requires medical advice. Self-therapy can be hazardous to health.

Prevention

To prevent the development of expiratory dyspnea, the following recommendations must be followed:

• Quit smoking.
• Treat chronic infections in a timely manner.
• If you have an allergy, you need to identify the allergen and focus on minimizing contact with it.
• Lead a healthy lifestyle.
• Improve immunity.
• Monitor body weight. All diseases will be more severe in obese people.

Expiratory dyspnea can develop with serious pathologies. It rarely occurs in healthy people, therefore, when such a symptom appears, you need to consult a doctor.

The author of the article: Molchanov Sergey Nikolaevich | Cardiologist

Education: Diploma in "Cardiology" received at the PMGMU. I. M. Sechenov (2015). Here I completed my postgraduate studies and received a diploma "Cardiologist".