Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT-TMC) Practice Exam

Postoperative patients are prone to atelectasis from shallow breathing and pain-limited deep inspiration; incentive spirometry is used to recruit collapsed alveoli by increasing inspiratory volume. The basilar, plate-like densities seen on the radiograph, along with a reduced inspiratory capacity and diminished breath sounds at the bases with crackles, point to collapse of the dependent lung zones rather than infection or fluid overload. Atelectasis commonly presents as thin-layered densities at the bases after thoracic surgery and responds to measures that raise lung volumes. Consolidation or pneumonia would typically show localized or confluent infiltrates with signs of infection, while pulmonary edema would usually present with diffuse interstitial or alveolar edema and often cardiomegaly rather than isolated basilar collapse.