asthma hospitalization

Question:

Hi my son was hospitalized with asthma this last week and they said his carbon dioxide level in his blood was too high.  I was wondering what is a normal carbon dioxide level in blood?  I was also wondering what does someone’s carbon dioxide level look like if they are having a severe attack?  thanks for the help!

Response:

CO2 for purposes of monitoring respiratory function is normally measured (in the US anyway) as mmHg partial pressure. Normal is about 35-45. Higher means you’re not ventilating enough air into alveoli with blood flow and lower means you’re hyperventilating. Early in an asthma attack people tend to hyperventilate (lower CO2). If, during a bad attack, the CO2 goes up toward normal this usually is a bad sign and may indicate that the patient is getting closer to respiratory failure. Levels may go really high (like 100 or so) in severe attacks in patients in full respiratory failure. They frequently are placed on mechanical ventilators when this happens though this has to be done very carefully as the ventilator, while life saving, can also cause injury or death if not used correctly in this complex situation. > Hi my son was hospitalized with asthma this last week and they said his carbon > dioxide level in his blood was too high.  I was wondering what is a normal > carbon dioxide level in blood?  I was also wondering what does someone’s carbon > dioxide level look like if they are having a severe attack?  thanks for the > help!

– Don Elton Columbia, SC http://www.midcarolina.org

Response:

Related Posts