Respiratory
Acute asthma
Read a silent chest with exhaustion as life-threatening asthma, not as recovery.
Educational only. A local note appears only when a public source is attached. This page does not say that one exam, or training in one country, makes you eligible to practice in another.
Global core
An asthma attack is bronchoconstriction with airway inflammation. A silent chest, exhaustion, or falling consciousness is life-threatening, not a sign of improvement. Repeated inhaled bronchodilator and a systemic steroid treat the attack. Oxygen is for hypoxia, not for every comfortable patient.
What stays the same
- Repeated inhaled bronchodilator and a systemic steroid treat the attack.
- Oxygen is for hypoxia.
- A sedative can remove the remaining drive to breathe.
- Recognize. Wheeze, tight chest, and difficulty speaking, in a person with asthma or atopy.
- Reason. Peak flow, oxygen saturation, and work of breathing grade the attack.
- Prioritize. A silent chest and drowsiness are near arrest.
- Act safely. Bronchodilator, oxygen if hypoxic, steroid, and senior help if life-threatening features are present.
Local adaptation
No sourced local note is attached to this topic. That is not a statement that every country manages it the same way. The shared principle above is what this beta is willing to teach.
Exam lens
What to give now, and who must not go home.
Original case · shared decision
The lens above is how that exam usually frames the medicine. This case stays on the shared decision. Not an official examination item.
A 24-year-old woman with asthma can speak only single words. The chest is quiet, oxygen saturation is 90% on air, and she is exhausted. What is the most appropriate immediate interpretation?