RESUMEN

La insuficiencia respiratoria aguda es una de las principales causas de atención en los Servicios de Urgencias de cualquier parte del mundo. Ésta sucede por la incapacidad del aparato respiratorio para mantener el intercambio de gases, y tener los niveles arteriales de oxígeno y de dióxido de carbono adecuados para las demandas del metabolismo celular. Dando como resultando, dos tipos de alteraciones caracterizados por la disminución de la presión arterial de oxígeno y el aumento de la presión de dióxido de carbono. Conocer las causas y dar un enfoque fisiopatológico permitirá diagnosticar una terapéutica exacta y con ello, el ahorro de recursos y tiempo. Este documento es una revisión de la literatura sobre la insuficiencia respiratoria aguda, a través de la búsqueda de información por medio de las palabras clave: insuficiencia respiratoria, hipoxemia, hipercapnia, ventilación mecánica no invasiva, ventilación mecánica invasiva, de la base de datos de PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/). Lo que permitirá al médico general conocer esta entidad tan frecuente, su abordaje diagnóstico y terapéutico en forma secuencial en la cabecera del paciente.

PALABRAS CLAVE

Insuficiencia respiratoria aguda, hipoxemia, hipercapnia, ventilación mecánica no invasiva, ventilación mecánica invasiva.

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