Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is an inflammatory lung injury that develops when fluids accumulate in the tiny air sacs known as alveoli within the lungs. It prevents the lungs from taking in air and results in hypoxemia, a condition where blood oxygen levels are dangerously low.
ARDS can be caused by a variety of conditions, including sepsis, aspiration pneumonia, blood transfusion, severe burns, major trauma, inhalational injury, and drug overdose. It may impair oxygen supply to other organs such as the brain, heart, kidneys, and stomach, resulting in systemic organ failure.
Depending on the underlying cause and severity of the condition, symptoms can range from severe shortness of breath to rapid and laboured breathing, extreme fatigue, confusion, a rapid heartbeat, bluish discoloration of the lips and fingernails from low oxygen levels in the blood, coughing, and chest pain, among others.
Treatment usually takes place in the intensive care unit and focuses on increasing blood oxygen levels through mechanical ventilation or supplemental oxygen.
Miss. Rishitha from Hanmakonda successfully received treatment for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome at Yashoda Hospitals, Hyderabad, under the supervision of Dr. Viswesvaran Balasubramanian, Consultant Interventional Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine.