Respiratory Medicine

Respiratory medicine is a field of medicine that deals with lung diseases, which include diseases of the :

1. Airways (eg. Asthma, COPD)
2. Lung parenchyma (eg. Pneumonia, tuberculosis, lung abscess, Interstitial lung disease)
3. Pulmonary vasculature (eg. Pulmonary Hypertension, Pulmonary embolism)
4. Pleural diseases (eg. Pleural effusion, empyema)
5. Sleep disorders (eg. such as snoring, obstructive sleep apnea and obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS))

Patients who should seek help are patients who have symptoms of lung diseases such as cough and shortness of breath. Patient with sleep disorders such as snoring during sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness can also seek help from a respiratory physician

Treatments offered will depends on the types of lung diseases that the patient have. Airway diseases such as Asthma or COPD will usually be given inhalers and some tablets. Patients with lung infections such as pneumonia or tuberculosis will be given antibiotics. Tablet antibiotics will be given if patient is stable to be treated as outpatient. Intravenous antibiotics will be given if patient is unstable and need to be admitted to the hospital.

Surgical procedures would include :

1. Diagnostic and therapeutic bronchoscopy ( putting camera into airways and lung)
2. Pleural tapping (removing water from the pleura via branula)
3. Chest tube insertion (putting a tube into the lung to remove trapped air or water from the lung pleura)