Biomaterial Database

Respiratory muscle fatigue: a cause of respiratory failure? 1977

P T Macklem, and C S Roussos

1. The question whether respiratory muscle fatigue ever causes respiratory failure is over 40 years old, but we still have no definitive answer to this question. Skeletal muscle fatigue occurs when the rate of energy consumption of the muscle is greater than the energy supplied, so that energy stores are utilized and eventually become depleted. 2. Five factors which are important in the development of muscle fatigue (a, the tension developed by the muscle; b, the maximum tension the muscle can develop; c, the energy stored within the muscle; d, the energy supplied to the muscle; e, the efficiency of the muscle). These can be affected in many diseases, so disposing to fatigue, thus respiratory muscle fatigue is likely to be a common occurrence. 3. Respiratory muscle fatigue can in principle easily be diagnosed at the bedside by application of a simple electromyographic technique used to detect fatigue in other skeletal muscles.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008176	Lung Volume Measurements	Measurement of the amount of air that the lungs may contain at various points in the respiratory cycle.	Lung Capacities,Lung Volumes,Capacity, Lung,Lung Capacity,Lung Volume,Lung Volume Measurement,Measurement, Lung Volume,Volume, Lung
D009132	Muscles	Contractile tissue that produces movement in animals.	Muscle Tissue,Muscle,Muscle Tissues,Tissue, Muscle,Tissues, Muscle
D012131	Respiratory Insufficiency	Failure to adequately provide oxygen to cells of the body and to remove excess carbon dioxide from them. (Stedman, 25th ed)	Acute Hypercapnic Respiratory Failure,Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure,Hypercapnic Acute Respiratory Failure,Hypercapnic Respiratory Failure,Hypoxemic Acute Respiratory Failure,Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure,Respiratory Depression,Respiratory Failure,Ventilatory Depression,Depressions, Ventilatory,Failure, Hypercapnic Respiratory,Failure, Hypoxemic Respiratory,Failure, Respiratory,Hypercapnic Respiratory Failures,Hypoxemic Respiratory Failures,Respiratory Failure, Hypercapnic,Respiratory Failure, Hypoxemic,Respiratory Failures
D004576	Electromyography	Recording of the changes in electric potential of muscle by means of surface or needle electrodes.	Electromyogram,Surface Electromyography,Electromyograms,Electromyographies,Electromyographies, Surface,Electromyography, Surface,Surface Electromyographies
D004734	Energy Metabolism	The chemical reactions involved in the production and utilization of various forms of energy in cells.	Bioenergetics,Energy Expenditure,Bioenergetic,Energy Expenditures,Energy Metabolisms,Expenditure, Energy,Expenditures, Energy,Metabolism, Energy,Metabolisms, Energy
D005221	Fatigue	The state of weariness following a period of exertion, mental or physical, characterized by a decreased capacity for work and reduced efficiency to respond to stimuli.	Lassitude
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D014939	Work of Breathing	RESPIRATORY MUSCLE contraction during INHALATION. The work is accomplished in three phases: LUNG COMPLIANCE work, that required to expand the LUNGS against its elastic forces; tissue resistance work, that required to overcome the viscosity of the lung and chest wall structures; and AIRWAY RESISTANCE work, that required to overcome airway resistance during the movement of air into the lungs. Work of breathing does not refer to expiration, which is entirely a passive process caused by elastic recoil of the lung and chest cage. (Guyton, Textbook of Medical Physiology, 8th ed, p406)	Breathing Work,Breathing Works