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Hypercapnia without hypoventilation

It鈥檚 not all about breathing rates: hypercapnia risk factors and complications

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Hypercapnia isn鈥檛 just a result of slow breathing (nor is hypocapnia just a result of fast breathing), it can be the result of so much more.

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Your patient complains of dyspnea. His end-tidal carbon dioxide reading is 54 mmHg and respiratory rate is 20 breaths per minute.

That鈥檚 right, he鈥檚 hypercapnic with an elevated respiratory rate (yes, 20 is elevated). That doesn鈥檛 make sense ... or, does it?

  • Hypercapnia: > 45 mmHg
  • Hypocapnia: < 35 mmHg

Hypercapnia isn鈥檛 just a result of slow breathing (nor is hypocapnia just a result of fast breathing), it can be the result of so much more. For those listeners and followers of the , this should resonate with you.

Won鈥檛 breathe (apnea)

No/decreased breaths 鈥 at least acutely 鈥 will lead to hypercapnia. Once hypoperfusion sets in, however, the end-tidal carbon dioxide value will begin to drop. Within the context of not breathing effectively, EMS clinicians need to turn to the potential chemical and mechanical reasons for this critical dilemma. Respiratory suppressing medications/drugs 鈥 such as opioids, benzodiazepines and barbiturates 鈥 may be the cause you鈥檙e looking for. Intoxicants may also cause respiratory failure to occur, which wraps up many of the common chemical causes of hypercapnia.

Looking more mechanically, trauma to your body鈥檚 鈥渨iring system鈥 (central nervous system) may be your culprit. Brainstem trauma or dysfunction, encephalitis, brainstem infarction or tumors may cause respiratory failure and resulting hypercapnia.

Can鈥檛 breathe (dyspea)

Different neuromuscular problems affecting the chest and/or lungs may lead to a situation of dyspnea that leads to hypercapnia. Spinal cord issues, neuromuscular weakness, the restriction of lung inflation and various physical upper or lower airway complications, like angioedema or small airway disease can also lead to carbon dioxide retention.

Breathing isn鈥檛 working (鈥渕is-pnea鈥)

Alveolar disease processes like pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and interstitial lung disease can cause issues with physical gas exchange 鈥 particularly with carbon dioxide release. Vascular disease issues like a pulmonary embolism may also prevent gas exchange because of the resulting decreased pulmonary blood flow.

Hypercapnia risks

Although hypercapnia is commonly tolerated by patients with COPD, it may not be tolerated well by more acute processes or disorders/injuries. When accompanied with severe dyspnea, hypercapnia may lead to patient agitation as a result of their decreased oxygen supply. Hypercapnia can also cause pulmonary vasoconstriction, which may lead to pulmonary hypertension. Cerebrovascular reactions are often seen in the form of vasodilation 鈥 which may lead to an increase in intracranial pressure (ICP). For some neuro-compromised patients who already have an increased ICP, this increase in carbon dioxide does not bode well in their favor. Among patients with no neurologic disease, a (simple) coinciding headache may be the result.

EMS treatment

In the presence of dyspnea, a common treatment option is non-invasive positive pressure ventilations in the form of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). For those patients who present more obtunded or even apneic, manual positive pressure ventilations via bag-valve mask (and/or including advanced airway insertion) would be aggressively appropriate. In situations where a medication or drug overdose is suspected 鈥 such as with opioids 鈥 the administration of naloxone and/or other appropriate reversal agents may be indicated.

Tim is the founder and CEO of Emergency Medical Solutions, LLC, an EMS training and consulting company that he developed in 2010. He has nearly two decades of experience in the emergency services industry, having worked as a career firefighter, paramedic and critical care paramedic in a variety of urban, suburban, rural and in-hospital environments. His background includes nearly a decade of company officer and chief officer level experience, in addition to training content delivery and program development spanning his entire career. He is experienced in EMS operations, community paramedicine, quality assurance, data management, training, special operations and administration disciplines, and holds credentials as both a supervising and managing paramedic officer.

Tim also has active experience as a columnist and content developer with over 200 published works and over 100 hours of education content available online, and is a social media influencer on LinkedIn within the EMS industry. Connect with him on or at tnowak@emergencymedicalsolutionsllc.com.