Respiratory arrest (ICD-10-GM R09.2: Respiratory arrest) or apnea is the cessation of external respiration for a greater or lesser length of time.
Respiratory arrest can last from a few seconds to several minutes and represents a life-threatening emergency situation.
The reasons for respiratory arrest are very diverse.
Causes include:
- Mechanical causes:
- Obstruction of the airway by foreign bodies (e.g., aspiration of stomach contents).
- Strangulation
- Diseases:
- Diseases of the respiratory system
- Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases.
- Diseases of the cardiovascular system
- Infectious and parasitic diseases
- Nervous system
- Trauma:
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI).
- Thoracic trauma (mortality is 25%).
- Medications or intoxications:
- Alcohol intoxication
- Barbiturates
- Curare
- Drug intoxication, not further defined
- Narcotics
- Opioids (opiates)
- Poisonings, unspecified
- Environmental pollution:
- Carbon dioxide intoxication
- Carbon monoxide intoxication
Respiratory arrest can be a symptom of many diseases (see under “Differential diagnoses”).
Course and prognosis: Regardless of the cause, respiratory arrest leads within a very short time to hypoxia (oxygen deficiency of the organism). The brain is most severely affected. Irreversible (irreversible) damage occurs after only three minutes.