Which patient is least likely to experience hypoventilation?
a. patient who weighs 350 pounds
b. patient who is recovering from gallbladder surgery and is requesting pain medication
c. patient who has emphysema and is walking in the hall
d. patient who has just had chest tubes inserted for a pneumothorax
C
In hypoventilation or shallow respirations, the chest wall is moved minimally during inspiration and expiration. A small tidal volume is being inspired. Obese patients frequently have small tidal volumes because of the sheer weight of the chest wall and the effort it takes to move it with each breath. The patient in pain or with a recent abdominal or thoracic incision has shallow respirations because of the discomfort of moving the rib cage, the integument, and the respiratory muscles with each breath. Shallow respirations are also seen in conditions where lung pathology exists and breathing is painful: pulmonary embolus, pneumonia, pneumothorax. The patient with emphysema walking the hall is least likely to experience hypoventilation.
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