IF MY CRITICALLY ILL LOVED ONE HAS A BREATHING TUBE(ENDOTRACHEAL TUBE) DO THEY NEED A CHEST X-RAY DAILY?

Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from www.intensivecarehotline.com , where we instantly improve the lives of Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care, so that you can have PEACE OF MIND, real power, real control and so that you can influence decision making fast, even if you’re not a doctor or a nurse in Intensive Care!

This is another episode of “your questions answered” and in last week’s episode I was sharing some insights about “Does my critically ill loved one in an induced coma or with head injuries feel my presence?”. You can read, watch or listen to the episode here.

In this week’s episode of “your questions answered” I want to share with you

”IF MY CRITICALLY ILL LOVED ONE HAS A BREATHING TUBE(ENDOTRACHEAL TUBE) DO THEY NEED A CHEST X-RAY DAILY?”

I think that this is really an important question to ask and as it turns out it’s one of the questions our readers of our INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM blog want to know.

You see, for the Intensive Care team who are like ‘fish in water’ so to speak, it’s a day to day occurrence to see chest x-rays left, right and centre and for the staff working in ICU, they hardly think about it, because it happens all the time around them.

For you and your Family however, who are like ‘fish out of water’, you only have a vague idea about how often a chest x-ray is necessary if your critically ill loved one has a breathing tube or endotracheal tube in their throat to help them breathe.

But it’s an important question to ask and a question that I think requires full disclosure! If your critically ill loved one has a breathing tube or endotracheal tube and is requiring mechanical ventilation, he or she needs a chest X-ray after the Breathing tube has been inserted, in order to confirm the position of the tube, to make sure it’s in the right spot. Furthermore, if your critically ill loved one needed the breathing tube(endotracheal tube) for a Diagnosis/ Clinical condition such as

Pneumonia
Acute Asthma
COPD
Heart conditions such as Heart attack, Cardiac arrest, Cardiomyopathy etc…
Pneumothorax

Is a daily chest x-ray really in the best interest of your critically ill loved one?
Then a daily chest x-ray could be the norm and could well be in the best interest of your critically ill loved one, since the chest x-ray will show whether the Pneumonia, Asthma or COPD is improving or getting worse.

If your loved one needed a breathing tube for any heart related condition that I mentioned, because a weak or sick heart can often have a negative impact on the lungs as fluids might accumulate in the lungs and therefore a daily chest x-ray could well be in the best interest of your critically ill loved one.

But if your critically ill loved one has a breathing tube(endotracheal tube) and doesn’t have an underlying lung or heart condition and if your critically ill loved one is requiring the breathing tube for an Induced Coma(what is an induced coma and why is my critically ill loved one in an induced coma?) then a daily chest x-ray is necessary and once the breathing tube has been confirmed with a chest x-ray, no other chest x-rays are required.

There are a few other situations where your critically ill loved one is requiring a chest x-ray, where they have a breathing tube and the chest x-ray taken is not because of the breathing tube, but the chest x-ray is necessary because of other situations such as

A feeding tube(nasogastric tube) has been placed(inserted)
A chest tube(ICC) has been inserted
A central Line(CVC) has been inserted
A Vascular Catheter(Vasc Cath) has been inserted for Hemodialysis/ Kidney Failure

In those cases the position of those lines needs to be confirmed and once confirmed with the chest x-ray, no other chest x-ray should be required.

You want to avoid unnecessary exposure to radioactivity for your loved one
What you obviously want to avoid is unnecessary exposure to a chest x-ray that is not of therapeutic interest for your critically ill loved one, because as you probably know you don’t want your loved one to be unnecessarily exposed to any radioactivity(which is an unwanted by-product of X-rays) and also if your critically ill loved one is privately insured and not on any government scheme, a daily chest x-ray is only adding on to an already large hospital bill and you only want to have a chest x-ray if it’s clinically indicated and in the best interest for your critically ill loved one.
But even if the costs for your critically ill loved one are covered, you don’t want any unnecessary exposure to the radioactivity by any x-rays. What you need to be aware of is that Intensive Care Unit’s definitely have a tendency to take more chest x-rays than necessary, as more often than not, the Radiographers(staff taking x-rays) are virtually only a doorstep away from Intensive Care and also Doctors tend to order many x-rays and if they are in doubt whether a chest x-ray is really necessary, they will order one anyway. So therefore, if you have any concerns you shouldn’t hesitate in asking those questions.

In general you should always ask questions anyway and you should always make up your own mind about the situation your critically ill loved one is in whilst in Intensive Care, irrespective of whether you’re a doctor or a nurse!

How can you leverage your level of PEACE OF MIND, power, influence and control whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care?

You’ll get to that all important feeling of power, control and influence when you download your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” report NOW by entering your email below! In Your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” report you’ll learn quickly how to get real power and real control and how you can influence decision making fast, whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care! Our FREE reports help you with in-depth insight that you must know whilst your loved one is critically ill or is dying in Intensive Care! Sign up for your FREE membership and download your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” REPORT now!

In your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” REPORT you’ll learn how to speak the “secret” Intensive Care language so that the doctors and the nurses know straight away that you are an insider and that you know and understand what’s really happening in Intensive Care!

In your FREE reports you’ll also discover

How to ask the doctors and the nurses the right questions
Discover the many competing interests in Intensive Care and how your critically ill loved one’s treatment may depend on those competing interests
How to eliminate fear, frustration, stress, struggle and vulnerability even if your loved one is dying
5 “killer” tips& strategies helping you to get on the right path to PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence in your situation
You’ll get real world examples that you can easily adapt to your and your critically ill loved one’s situation
How to stop being intimidated by the Intensive Care team and how you will be seen as equals
You’ll get crucial ‘behind the scenes’ insight so that you know and understand what is really happening in Intensive Care
How you need to manage doctors and nurses in Intensive Care(it’s not what you think)

Thank you for tuning into this week’s “BLOG” and I’ll see you again in another update next week!

Make sure you also check out our “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED” section where we answer your questions or send me an email to [email protected] with your questions!

Also check out our Products section where you get more Ebooks, Videos and Audio recordings and where you can also get 1:1 consulting!

This is Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM and I’ll see you again next week with another update!

Sincerely, your Friend
Patrik Hutzel