Which findings are commonly associated with ARDS?

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Multiple Choice

Which findings are commonly associated with ARDS?

In ARDS, the lungs become stiff and filled with fluid due to inflammatory injury, which severely disrupts gas exchange. Because the work of breathing is higher and the lungs are less compliant, patients commonly breathe rapidly and use extra muscles to help pull air in. This combination—rapid breathing and visible use of accessory muscles or chest retractions—is a hallmark of the respiratory distress seen with ARDS. Hypertension and bradycardia aren’t typical responses to ARDS; hypoxemia from ARDS generally triggers a faster heart rate rather than a slower one. Hyperresonance suggests air trapping or a pneumothorax, not the diffuse edema and stiffness of ARDS. Normal breath sounds are unlikely because the fluid-filled, inflamed alveoli usually produce crackles or other abnormal sounds on auscultation.

In ARDS, the lungs become stiff and filled with fluid due to inflammatory injury, which severely disrupts gas exchange. Because the work of breathing is higher and the lungs are less compliant, patients commonly breathe rapidly and use extra muscles to help pull air in. This combination—rapid breathing and visible use of accessory muscles or chest retractions—is a hallmark of the respiratory distress seen with ARDS.

Hypertension and bradycardia aren’t typical responses to ARDS; hypoxemia from ARDS generally triggers a faster heart rate rather than a slower one. Hyperresonance suggests air trapping or a pneumothorax, not the diffuse edema and stiffness of ARDS. Normal breath sounds are unlikely because the fluid-filled, inflamed alveoli usually produce crackles or other abnormal sounds on auscultation.

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