Word parts
What it means
Fluid fills the lungs' air sacs (alveolusal-VEE-uh-lus (plural alveoli, al-VEE-uh-ly)One of the tiny air sacs at the ends of the smallest airways in the lungs.Full entry ), so oxygen cannot pass into the blood well. It is most often caused by heart failurehart FAYL-yerA long-term condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the body's needs.Full entry , when the left side of the heart cannot keep up and pressure backs up into the lungs. The client is very short of breath, anxious, coughs up frothy, sometimes pink-tinged sputum and has crackles in the lungs. Sudden pulmonary edema is an emergency.
For the nurse
Sit the client upright with the legs down, give oxygen as ordered and call for help. Expect IV diuretics such as furosemidefyoo-ROH-suh-mideA loop diuretic: a drug that makes the kidneys remove more salt and water from the body.Full entry , and monitor oxygen saturation, lung sounds, urine output and potassium.
In a chart
"Crackles throughout both lungs, pink frothy sputum, SpO2 84%; client placed in high Fowler's."
At a glance
| Spanish | edema pulmonar |
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Related terms
furosemide
A loop diuretic: a drug that makes the kidneys remove more salt and water from the body.
edema
Swelling caused by extra fluid trapped in the body's tissues.
heart failure
A long-term condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the body's needs.
pulmonary
Relating to the lungs.