Diagnosis

With such imprecise symptoms, a particularly good and accurate anamnesis is important, as many diseases are possible. It is important to find out possible additional symptoms and thus exclude other diseases. The patient’s overall physical condition must also be ascertained, as well as the time of onset of the symptoms and whether they are related to certain activities, such as sport.

After this exact anamnesis, it is of course also important to examine the patient. The patient is examined with a stethoscope and tapped. Afterwards, appointments for ultrasound, X-ray, MRT or even CT may be made.

With these imaging procedures it is very easy to determine changes such as tumours or other injuries and diseases in more detail. A lung scintigraphy can also be used to examine the ventilation of the lungs, which is important for many diseases. In many cases, an ECG is also initiated. A comprehensive blood count is just as important as the other examination methods mentioned.

Therapy

The therapy depends on the underlying disease and can be very diverse. In acute bronchitis, there are not very many options for therapy. If the bronchitis is bacterial, i.e. caused by bacteria, the administration of an antibiotic is recommended.

Normally a bronchitis heals by itself. The administration of cough-relieving medication is possible, but is often refused, because the overproduced mucus should be coughed up. Sometimes, however, the severe cough causes sleep problems and it is possible to administer cough syrup and other cough-relieving drugs.

With bronchial asthma, on the other hand, the drugs are usually inhaled and taken with inhalers. If the illness is related to the job, pets or an allergy, it is often possible to find a remedy by staying away from the animals or places that cause the asthma. Among the most important medicines are various glucocorticoids.

A pulmonary embolism is an acutely life-threatening situation and should be treated immediately in hospital. It is important that oxygen is supplied and that haemostatic drugs are administered. Often the circulation must also be stabilised and the thrombus removed by catheter or surgery.

However, it can also happen that the thrombus dissolves again by itself. Similar to bronchitis, it is just as important in the case of pneumonia to identify the pathogens and administer appropriate medication. These can be antibiotics, virustatics or antimimetics.

Depending on the additional symptoms, fever-reducing medication can also be used, for example, especially if the patient is in one of the risk groups, such as old people or small children. It is also important that cough-relieving and expectorant drugs are administered. Depending on the patient’s condition, hospital admission may also be necessary.

A pneumothorax is treated by placing a thoracic drainage to suck out the air in the pleural space. If it is only a very slight pneumothorax, which is often not recognized at all, the air is usually gradually removed by the body itself. If it is a pneumothorax as a result of an accident, then the external and internal injuries and blood, which may also have occurred, must also be sucked out and supplied. In addition, if the pneumothorax has already had a serious effect on the body, the circulation may also have to be stabilised.