12th January 2024

Aetiology

Acute Respiratory Failure may occur in a variety of pulmonary and non-pulmonary disorders. A few selected causes are mentioned here:

Airway Disorders	Pulmonary Oedema	Parenchymal Lung Disorders	Pulmonary Vascular Disorders
Asthma Acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis or emphysema Obstruction of large upper airways by oedema, mucus or foreign body	Pulmonary oedema	Pneumonia Interstitial Lung Disease Diffuse alveolar haemorrhage syndromes Aspiration Lung contusion	Thromboembolism Air embolism Amniotic fluid embolism

Chest wall, Diaphragm and Pleural disorders	Neuromuscular and related disorders	CNS Disorders
Rib fracture Flail chest Pneumothorax Pleural effusion	Guillain-Barre syndrome Myasthenia gravis Poliomyelitis Polymyositis Botulism Spinal cord injury	Intracranial hypertension Sedatives, hypnotics, opioids Brainstem trauma, tumour

Table 2: Various causes of respiratory failure

Chesnutt A.N., & Chesnutt M.S., & Prendergast N.T., & Prendergast T.J. (2021). Acute respiratory failure. Papadakis M.A., & McPhee S.J., & Rabow M.W.(Eds.), Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment 2021. McGraw Hill. https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=2957&sectionid=249370465

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