Diagnois of community acquired pneumonia

Answer

Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP)

Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) is a common acute infection, which attacks the lung parenchyma mostly acquired from a certain community. It is a bacterial infection established under a clinical radiological evidence as a direct consolidation of respiratory parts like lungs (McCance et al., 2014). If not properly monitored, it develops into more complications, causing death.

Some of the most appropriate differential diagnoses I would pick on in the case of Community Acquired Pneumonia include Acute Bronchitis since most patients experience unproductive coughs, which in most cases affect the upper respiratory tract system (Musher & Thorner, 2014). Asthma exacerbation will also be considered a differential diagnosis basing on expiratory wheezing and acute dyspnea even though it causes unproductive coughs making the patient afebrile. In the case of Influenza, the patient might show signs of fever with highly productive cough and resultant dyspnea. It causes muscle pains, running nose and sore throat, which if not presented in a case study is ruled out. Finally, Hospital acquired pneumonia only applies when the patient has been hospitalized recently in a healthcare facility

It is very important to come up with a final diagnosis for any case with properly outlined assessment findings to support any given rational (Goolsby & Grubbs, 2014). The diagnosis on Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) must have a close relation with symptoms like fever, unproductive cough, pleuritic pains in the chest, breath shortness and tiredness. One’s medical history must not also indicate that he recently attended a healthcare setting since it will divert the whole concept to Hospital Acquired Pneumonia. If any physical examination reveals diaphoresis, fever, hypoxia and diffuse crackles in the right lung then the patient confirms a final diagnosis of Community Acquired Pneumonia. However, this ailment is common among the elderly and prevalent to people whose medical history records recurrent symptoms of high fever, consolidation after examination, dyspnea and tachycardia. Such a detailed health examination helps practitioners in ruling out a specific diagnosis of a patient’s main complaints.

There are certain specific findings which help in distinguishing a normal lung from an abnormal one. They include; auscultation, palpation, and percussion findings.

In the case of palpation, normal conditions can be detected if the chest wall must remain intact during symmetric expansion in all cases of deep inspiration to prevent deformities, formation of masses and adherence to tenderness (Wunderink & Waterer, 2014). Abnormal palpation results into pain, formation of lumps and masses, asymmetry and prevalent deformities moreover. Lung palpation is as a result of symmetric tactile fremitus which in most cases seize whenever one’s voice is highly pitched, there exists an obstructed bronchus, pleural effusion, extremely soft or whenever procedural transmission of vibrations form larynx to chest surfaces is obstructed by thick chest wall.

Percussion sets all underlying tissues within the chest wall in motion through production of highly audible sound and vibrations. It counter checks whether underlying tissues have been affected by either air, fluid filling or a consolidation. Percussion helps in identification of margins for organs like lungs through provision of an estimate of the relative amounts of fluid, air or solid matter within a given space (Wunderink & Waterer, 2014). Dullness and hype-resonance is often reflected during abnormal percussion which is a suggestion of air trapping.

 For the case of Auscultation under normal circumstances, there should be quiet breath sounds, with a rhythmic procedure that is entirely effortless. Abnormal patients explore a more adventurous breath moves which comprise of rare sounds in lung fields. They may be felt in form of wheezing, rales, crackling and friction rubs.