Sepsis and ARDS

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a life-threatening lung condition. It develops rapidly and drastically reduces the amount of oxygen your blood gets from your lungs.Your lungs are filled with air sacs, which transfer oxygen from the air in your lungs to your blood. If you have ARDS, fluid leaks from the blood vessels in your airway into these tiny air sacs, limiting how much oxygen that can move from the air sacs to your blood. Other air sacs become unstable and collapse, also limiting their ability to function. Your body’s organs depend on the oxygen, and nutrients blood brings. If your blood does not have enough oxygen to meet your organs’ needs, they stop functioning properly. This may lead to the failure of other organs.

Although several causes can cause ARDS, including trauma or aspiration, the most common cause is sepsis. Sepsis, which was often called blood poisoning, is the body’s life-threatening response to infection. Like strokes or heart attacks, sepsis is a medical emergency that requires rapid diagnosis and treatment.

Suggested Citation:
Sepsis Alliance. Sepsis and ARDS. 2023. https://www.sepsis.org/sepsisand/ards/

Updated November 9, 2023.

 

More About ARDS

Symptoms

ARDS symptoms are typical of someone who is having a hard time breathing. This includes:

  • Rapid breathing
  • Shortness of breath
  • Difficulty taking breaths
  • Low blood pressure
  • Organ failure
  • Confusion
  • Extreme fatigue

ARDS is a life-threatening condition and a medical emergency. If you are experiencing signs and symptoms of ARDS, call 9-1-1 immediately.

Treatment

ARDS is a medical emergency. Before anything else, it is vital that you get more oxygen in your blood. An oxygen mask placed over your mouth and nose can supply you with oxygen, but you may need to be intubated if you are having too much trouble breathing. To do this, a doctor places a tube into your trachea (airway), usually through your mouth. This tube is then attached to a mechanical ventilator that will help you breathe by pushing air directly into your lungs.

Once the initial medical emergency is under control, the doctors then need to learn why you developed ARDS and treat the cause. If the cause was sepsis, this treatment would include antibiotics if the cause is a bacterial infection, intravenous fluids, and possibly medications called vasopressors to help raise your blood pressure. Intravenous fluids are important, but the doctors have to be careful not to give you too much. You need fluids to keep up your blood pressure, which allows your blood to flow through your blood vessels. Too much fluid could cause more fluid build-up in your lungs.

If you’ve had ARDS, you could be left with some lasting effects, such as scarring in the lung tissue and abnormal lung function.

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ARDS

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Sarah Hardy

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Libby Anderson

It all began in June of 2017. My wife and I had planned a long weekend away at Fort Bragg with our dog Dexter. At the time we were both ICU RNs working 12-hour night shifts at a hospital near our home. We had finished a grueling 3 shifts in a row. I had a cold. I was tired and coughing a lot. On June 9th, I was excited to leave town and have a relaxing few days off, and so was Mary. When we got to the beach, I was exhausted. Mary took Dexter to the beach, and I ... Read Full Story

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Carol Mulkern

I had been feeling a bit “run down” as my Mom had just died. Two weeks later I went to an urgent care facility as I had pain when I urinated. I was prescribed antibiotics but they didn’t seem to work after 7 days. I reluctantly agreed to go to the local ED as my daughter thought I seemed “off”. The previous evening I had had the cold sweats as I was literally shivering out loud. (Sepsis and Urinary Tract Infections) Upon my arrival to the ED, vitals, medical history, urine spec, and chest X-ray were done. While waiting for ... Read Full Story

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Steph Wasson

It’s extremely difficult to shortly summarize the most traumatic 6 months of my life, but here it goes. 2015 was supposed to be the best year of my life. And it started out that way at first. I was a young, healthy, 26-year-old ICU nurse working in a level 1 trauma center. I had just gotten married that summer, started my first semester of nurse practitioner school in the fall, and found out I was pregnant shortly after that. Little did I know that the year would end with me fighting for my life. After two weeks of complications, it ... Read Full Story

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