Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (Nursing)

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a life-threatening condition of seriously ill patients, characterized by poor oxygenation, pulmonary infiltrates, and acuity of onset. On a microscopic level, the disorder is associated with capillary endothelial injury and diffuse alveolar damage.ARDS is defined as an acute disorder characterized by bilateral lung infiltrates and severe progressive hypoxemia in the absence of any evidence of cardiogenic pulmonary edema. ARDS is defined by the patient's oxygen in arterial blood (PaO2) to the fraction of the oxygen in the inspired air (FiO2). These patients usually have a PaO2/FiO2 ratio of less than 200.Once ARDS develops, patients usually have varying degrees of pulmonary artery vasoconstriction and may subsequently develop pulmonary hypertension. ARDS carries a high mortality, and few effective therapeutic modalities exist to combat this condition. [1] [2]