What is a pulmonary function test? Please go here to learn more

Do you have this feeling↓↓↓

Do you often feel chest tightness, shortness of breath and rapid breathing?

Can’t catch your breath after walking a few steps?

Do you experience coughing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and other discomforts after smoking?

Are you more likely to catch a cold when the weather changes or the seasons change?

These are warning signs from the lungs.

Reminder: You need to do a lung function test!

Image source: Pixabay

01What is a pulmonary function test?

Pulmonary function test is an examination that uses respiratory physiology knowledge and modern examination technology to understand and explore the functional status of the human respiratory system. It is an important examination content for the diagnosis, severity assessment, treatment and prognosis evaluation of chest and lung diseases in clinical practice, and is one of the indispensable examination items for respiratory diseases.

02The significance of pulmonary function test

1. It can detect lung and respiratory tract diseases at an early stage, such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema, bronchial asthma, interstitial lung disease, etc.

2. Identify the cause of dyspnea and determine the location of airway obstruction.

3. Assess the severity of lung disease.

4. Assess tolerance to surgical procedures (especially thoracic surgery) and the possibility of postoperative complications.

5. Long-term smokers can use this examination to observe the damage to their lung function and urge patients to make up their minds to quit smoking.

6. Monitoring of critically ill patients, etc.

7. It helps to clarify the severity of COPD and formulate appropriate treatment plans based on the severity of the disease.

Compared with chest X-rays, CT scans and other examinations, pulmonary function tests focus more on understanding the functional changes in the lungs and are an important means of examining respiratory diseases!

03Who is recommended to do lung function test

1. People who are over 40 years old and undergoing health check-up, smokers, and people who are exposed to second-hand smoke for a long time.

2. Workers who are exposed to toxic and harmful chemical gases such as dust, heavy metal particles, etc. for a long time.

3. Those who themselves or their immediate family members suffer from certain specific diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, asthma, allergic rhinitis, etc.

4. People who are exposed to oil fumes for a long time or work in the catering industry, use biofuels for cooking or heating, and live in areas with severe air pollution for a long time.

04Who should not undergo pulmonary function tests?

1. Patients with pneumothorax or within 1 month after pneumothorax healing, severe bullae, respiratory failure and tracheotomy.

2. Patients with severe cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure, thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysm, hypertension (such as systolic blood pressure > 200 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure > 100 mmHg), and recent myocardial infarction or pulmonary embolism.

3. Patients with infectious diseases such as open pulmonary tuberculosis, active chronic hepatitis, etc.

4. Those who are unable to cooperate with the examination due to cerebrovascular accident, cerebral palsy, impaired consciousness, etc.

5. Patients with a history of hemoptysis within two weeks.

6. Those who have undergone lung biopsy or lung endoscopy on the day of pulmonary function test.

Contributor: The Second People's Hospital of Banan District, Chongqing Review experts: Du Guo, Yang Ju Statement: Except for original content and special instructions, some pictures are sourced from the Internet. They are not for commercial use and are only used as popular science materials. The copyright belongs to the original author. If there is any infringement, please contact us to delete it.