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Hypercapnia (from the Greek hyper, "above" or "too much" and kapnos, "smoke"), also known as hypercarbia and CO 2 retention, is a condition of abnormally elevated carbon dioxide (CO 2) levels in the blood. Carbon dioxide is a gaseous product of the body's metabolism and is normally expelled through the lungs.
Many people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have a low partial pressure of oxygen in the blood and high partial pressure of carbon dioxide.Treatment with supplemental oxygen may improve their well-being; alternatively, in some this can lead to the adverse effect of elevating the carbon dioxide content in the blood (hypercapnia) to levels that may become toxic.
In addition to enhancing removal of carbon dioxide from oxygen-consuming tissues, the Haldane effect promotes dissociation of carbon dioxide from hemoglobin in the presence of oxygen. In the oxygen-rich capillaries of the lung, this property causes the displacement of carbon dioxide to plasma as low-oxygen blood enters the alveolus and is vital ...
Respiratory failure is classified as either Type 1 or Type 2, based on whether there is a high carbon dioxide level, and can be acute or chronic. In clinical trials, the definition of respiratory failure usually includes increased respiratory rate , abnormal blood gases (hypoxemia, hypercapnia, or both), and evidence of increased work of breathing.
Acute respiratory acidosis occurs when an abrupt failure of ventilation occurs. This failure in ventilation may be caused by depression of the central respiratory center by cerebral disease or drugs, inability to ventilate adequately due to neuromuscular disease (e.g., myasthenia gravis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Guillain–Barré syndrome, muscular dystrophy), or airway obstruction ...
If OHS is suspected, various tests are required for its confirmation. The most important initial test is the demonstration of elevated carbon dioxide in the blood. This requires an arterial blood gas determination, which involves taking a blood sample from an artery, usually the radial artery. Given that it would be complicated to perform this ...
Metabolic compensations take place at a much later stage. However, in a critical setting, a person with a normal pH, a high CO 2, and a high bicarbonate means that, although there is a high carbon dioxide level, there is metabolic compensation. As a result, one must be careful as to not artificially adjust breaths to lower the carbon dioxide.
A blood sample is drawn from an artery, typically in the wrist. A laboratory then processes the blood sample to determine oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. Assessing and monitoring blood gas levels is the most accurate means to identify a state of respiratory compromise in patients.