Question

When performing an assessment on the client with emphysema, the nurse finds that the client has a barrel chest. The alteration in the client's chest is due to:

a) Collapse of distal alveoli
b) Hyperinflation of the lungs
c) Long-term chronic hypoxia
d) Use of accessory muscles

Answer 1

The barrel chest noted in a patient with emphysema is due to the hyperinflation of the lungs, a consequence of the breakdown of alveolar walls and a decrease in lung elastic recoil.

Step-by-step explanation:

When performing an assessment on the client with emphysema who has a barrel chest, the alteration in the client's chest is due to hyperinflation of the lungs. Emphysema is a type of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and is characterized by the destruction of the walls of the alveoli. This damage, often caused by smoking, leads to a decrease in elastic fibers, resulting in the loss of lung elastic recoil. Consequently, air becomes trapped in the lungs at the end of exhalation, causing hyperinflation and the characteristic barrel chest appearance. This alteration is not due to collapse of distal alveoli, long-term chronic hypoxia, or the use of accessory muscles directly, but rather the physiological lung changes associated with emphysema.