Word parts
What it means
The part of breathing when air comes into the lungs. The word also names a medication route: inhaled drugs are breathed in from a metered-dose inhaler, a dry-powder inhaler or a nebulizer and act right in the airways. Breathing in smoke, gas or chemicals can injure the airway (inhalation injury).
For the nurse
Teach inhaler technique and watch the client use it: shake a metered-dose inhaler, breathe out, seal the lips around the mouthpiece (or use a spacer), press while breathing in slowly and deeply, then hold the breath for about 10 seconds. Have the client rinse the mouth after an inhaled corticosteroid to prevent thrush.
In a chart
"Albuterol given by inhalation via nebulizer; wheezing decreased."
At a glance
| Spanish | inhalación |
|---|---|
| Also written | inhalations |
Related terms
COPD
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a long-term lung disease that makes it hard to move air out of the lungs.
corticosteroid
A drug that acts like the hormones of the adrenal glands, used mainly to calm inflammation and the immune system.
respiration
Breathing air in and out, and the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the air, the blood and the cells.
wheezing
A high-pitched, whistling sound made as air moves through narrowed airways.
airway
The passages that carry air into and out of the lungs, from the nose and mouth to the smallest air tubes.