![]() ![]() ![]() Do the ribs move out and in with inhalation and exhalation, or is there paradoxical chest wall motion in an area that moves in during inhalation and out during exhalation, suggestive of a flail chest? Is there any subcutaneous emphysema that suggests airway injury?Īuscultate the thorax bilaterally. If the animal is breathing, what are the respiratory rate and pattern? Is the respiratory rate normal, increased, or decreased? Is the respiratory pattern normal, or is the breathing rapid and shallow, or slow and deep with inspiratory distress? Are the respiratory noises normal, or is there a high-pitched stridor on inspiration characteristic of an upper airway obstruction? Does the animal have its head extended and elbows abducted away from the body with orthopnea? Do the commissures of the mouth move with inhalation and exhalation? Is there evidence of expiratory distress with an abdominal push on exhalation? Note the lateral chest wall. Is the animal breathing? If the animal is not breathing, immediately intubate the animal and start artificial ventilations with a supplemental oxygen source (see Cardiac Arrest and Cardiopulmonary Cerebral Resuscitation).
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