Question

A common symptom that would alert the nurse that a preterm infant is developing respiratory distress syndrome is:_________

Answer 1

A common symptom that would alert the nurse that a preterm infant is developing respiratory distress syndrome is expiratory grunting.

An audible grunt (forced expiratory sound) in a newborn is a crucial indicator of pulmonary disease and reveals a small lung volume or functional residual capacity (FRC). The baby's FRC rises when breathing against a partially closed glottis, maintaining the alveoli's patent state.

In an effort to maintain FRC and avoid alveolar atelectasis, the glottis suddenly closes on expiration, causing a grunting sound. Achieving and maintaining physiologic FRC is crucial in the management of respiratory illnesses with poor compliance, such as RDS or TTN, because lung compliance is worse at very low or very high FRC.

Learn more about expiratory grunting here;

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