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Carbon dioxide is a gaseous product of the body's metabolism and is normally expelled through the lungs. Carbon dioxide may accumulate in any condition that causes hypoventilation, a reduction of alveolar ventilation (the clearance of air from the small sacs of the lung where gas exchange takes place) as well as resulting from inhalation of CO 2.
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.
Permissive hypercapnia is hypercapnia (i.e. high concentration of carbon dioxide in blood) in respiratory insufficient patients in which oxygenation has become so difficult that the optimal mode of mechanical ventilation (with oxygenation in mind) is not capable of exchanging enough carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a gaseous product of the ...
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.
Carbon dioxide is produced continuously as the body's cells respire, and this CO 2 will accumulate rapidly if the lungs do not adequately expel it through alveolar ventilation. Alveolar hypoventilation thus leads to an increased PaCO 2 (a condition called hypercapnia).
The partial pressure of carbon dioxide, along with the pH, can be used to differentiate between metabolic acidosis, metabolic alkalosis, respiratory acidosis, and respiratory alkalosis. Hypoventilation exists when the ratio of carbon dioxide production to alveolar ventilation increases above normal values – greater than 45mmHg.
Ventilation facilitates respiration. Respiration refers to the utilization of oxygen and balancing of carbon dioxide by the body as a whole, or by individual cells in cellular respiration. [1] The most important function of breathing is the supplying of oxygen to the body and balancing of the carbon dioxide levels.
The oxygen tension (or partial pressure) remains close to 13–14 kPa (about 100 mm Hg), and that of carbon dioxide very close to 5.3 kPa (or 40 mm Hg). This contrasts with composition of the dry outside air at sea level, where the partial pressure of oxygen is 21 kPa (or 160 mm Hg) and that of carbon dioxide 0.04 kPa (or 0.3 mmHg). [6]