Atelectasis Treatment
Can this condition be treated? What Atelectasis treatment options are available? Learn more below about the current treatments available to patients.
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How to Treat Atelectasis
Treatment focuses on treating the underlying cause and maintaining adequate air supply. The collapsed lung usually expands once the underlying cause has been corrected. Atelectasis often resolves on its own without treatment.
Treatments include:
Physical Therapy
The therapist uses different techniques to help clear mucus from the lung. You will be positioned so that gravity helps secretions flow out of the body. When resting in bed, lie on the unaffected side to promote drainage from the lung that has collapsed.
Respiratory Therapy
This may include any or all of the following:
- Breathing masks or treatments to help keep your airways open
- Incentive spirometry to help you learn to take deeper breaths
- Suction to help remove secretions
- A breathing machine, called a ventilator, if you are unable to breathe adequately on your own
Medication
Medications may include:
- Drugs to open the airways
- Drugs to treat the disease that caused the collapse
- Antibiotics to treat an infection
- Cardiac drugs to control heart disease
- Inhalers and other drugs to manage asthma or emphysema
- Oxygen, if you are having trouble breathing
Bronchoscopy
Bronchoscopy may be used to remove a foreign body or mucus that is blocking the airway.
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implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A
MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment
or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Copyright ©2013 EBSCO Publishing All rights
reserved. Source: EBSCO
