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Review Article| Volume 20, ISSUE 3, P403-417, July 2004

Terminal dyspnea and respiratory distress

  • Margaret L Campbell
    Correspondence
    Detroit Receiving Hospital, Palliative Care Service, Nursing Administration, 4201 St. Antoine Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48201
    Affiliations
    Detroit Receiving Hospital, Palliative Care Service, Nursing Administration, 4201 St. Antoine Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48201, USA

    Wayne State University, Department of Internal Medicine, 4201 St. Antoine Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48201, USA
    Search for articles by this author
      Common reasons for admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) are respiratory failure that has produced dyspnea and respiratory distress, and the need for oxygen, ventilatory support, and close monitoring. The provision of oxygen and ventilation reduces dyspnea, although adding the burden of intubation and restraints, until the underlying condition that produced hypoxemia or breathing failure is corrected. Some patients will decline mechanical ventilation or have it withdrawn because of their pre-ICU prognosis or the failure of ICU interventions to produce an outcome that is satisfactory to the patient. Patients who forgo mechanical ventilation will require other strategies to reduce dyspnea and respiratory distress, and they are vulnerable to underrecognition and treatment of their symptom burden.
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