Overview
Clinical Frame
Most episodes called bronchitis are a post viral irritation of the trachea and large bronchi, not a bacterial infection requiring an antibiotic.
Most episodes called bronchitis are a post-viral irritation of the trachea and large bronchi, not a bacterial infection requiring an antibiotic. The cough can be forceful, productive, and accompanied by wheeze even when oxygenation is normal. The nursing decision is therefore not simply whether the patient is coughing. It is whether the pattern still fits uncomplicated acute bronchitis, or whether the patient has signs of pneumonia, pertussis, bronchiolitis, asthma or COPD exacerbation, pulmonary embolism, heart failure, or another cause of respiratory decline.