Fluid In Lungs?

[CoffeeBean 4]

My sis just got out of surgery. Coughing a lot. Fluid in lungs. Anyone else have this kind of reaction to anestesia?

[Ready4success 380]

I've seen it in surgery. It's not uncommon. An easy way to explain it is that when we are awake, we can control how deep of a breath we take. (unless you're an asthmatic, COPDer, chronic emphysema, etc) While under anesthesia, the anesthesia personnel decides how big of a breath the mechanical ventilator will give, how many breaths given in a minute, how much of the breath is oxygenated, how much gas is in the breath, and so on and so forth. Needless to say, there area many factors involved when mechanically ventilating a person. It is basically an estimate of what the body needs while under anesthesia, and if the patient isn't tolerating it well, they may change a thing or two. For example, your sister may pull a volume of 650 while she is awake ( her breathing), well anesthesia can't set the ventilator to 650, because that could cause lung trauma (the lungs are negative pressure, ventilators produce positive pressure). So, you see that you can't be too aggressive. When you're not aggressive enough, or if the surgery is long in length, Fluid can collect. When we are awake, we cough and take deep breaths to protect ourselves from that same fluid collecting. We're also given the incentive spirometer to clear the secretions. Sorry for the long book and I'm sorry your sister isn't feeling well, I hope she gets well soon.

[CoffeeBean 4]

I appreciate your response. My sis is much better this morning

[Guest deleted_user]

I appreciate your response. My sis is much better this morning

Thank God your sister is feeling better! Wishing her a great recovery and success in her journey!

[Ready4success 380]

I appreciate your response. My sis is much better this morning

Good to hear!