Assignment: Acute Bronchitis

Select one pulmonary, cardiac, peripheral vascular, or lymphatic system condition or disorder. Summarize and discuss the clinical characteristics and identify the appropriate laboratory, imaging, and other diagnostic and screening tools that apply to this condition or disorder. Explain why you selected these tests or tools as being appropriate to this process. Support your summary and recommended plan with a minimum of two APRN-approved scholarly resources.

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Acute Bronchitis

Acute bronchitis is characterized by inflammation of the tracheobronchial tree, mainly after an upper respiratory infection in individuals without chronic lung disorders. It is almost always caused by a viral infection. The clinical manifestations of Acute bronchitis include a nonproductive or mildly productive cough that is usually accompanied or preceded by URI symptoms, generally by > 5 days (Nowicki & Murray, 2020). Other symptoms include chest pain or tightness with breathing, mild fever, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, headache, myalgia, and fatigue.

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Physical exam findings are indefinite, including diffuse inspiratory stridor, indicating bronchial or tracheal obstruction. Besides, diffuse wheezes, high-pitched continuous sounds, and the use of accessory muscles can occur in severe cases (Nowicki & Murray, 2020). In mildly productive cough, the sputum can be clear, purulent, or occasionally have streaks of blood. However, the sputum characteristics do not match with a specific etiology.

Diagnosis of bronchitis is mostly based on clinical presentation. However, lab and imaging tests are usually performed to rule out or confirm the diagnosis. Chest radiography is indicated in patients whose physical exam findings suggest pneumonia or a severe illness. Findings that should warrant a chest x-ray include a change in mental status, ill appearance, high fever, hypoxemia, tachypnea, crackles, and signs of pleural effusion (Nowicki & Murray, 2020). In addition, chest radiography should be ordered in elderly patients since they may have pneumonia without fever and positive auscultation findings but instead present with altered mental status and tachypnea. The second appropriate diagnostic test is a throat swab for the culture of respiratory secretions for influenza virus, Mycoplasmapneumoniae, and Bordetella pertussis if these organisms are suspected (Charlton et al., 2019). Besides, culture and immunofluorescence tests have been developed for lab diagnosis of C pneumonia infection.

References

Charlton, C. L., Babady, E., Ginocchio, C. C., Hatchette, T. F., Jerris, R. C., Li, Y., … & Drews, S. J. (2019). Practical guidance for clinical microbiology laboratories: viruses causing acute respiratory tract infections. Clinical microbiology reviews, 32(1), e00042-18. https://doi.org/10.1128/CMR.00042-18

Nowicki, J., & Murray, M. T. (2020). Bronchitis and Pneumonia. Textbook of Natural Medicine, 1196–1201.e1. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-43044-9.00155-2

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Assignment: Acute Bronchitis