What is cyanosis and where does it come from

What is cyanosis

CyanosisBlue skin or lips (cyanosis) Is blue discoloration of the skin or mucous membranes that can be seen on the lips, nasolabial triangle, tongue, gums, ears, or fingertips. Sometimes a person's face or body turns completely blue.

When you need to urgently call an ambulance

Cyanosis can signal life-threatening conditions. Therefore, immediately dial 103 or 112 if any of these symptoms appear.Blue discoloration of the skin:

• it is difficult or impossible to inhale, breathing becomes heavy or very rapid;
• to make breathing easier, you have to bend forward;
• worried about chest pain;
• during inhalation, the ribs move apart to the sides;
• the head hurts badly;
• there is drowsiness or absent-mindedness;
• the temperature rises;
• began to cough with dark sputum.

In addition to the listed signs, with cyanosis in children, there may beBlue discoloration of the skin and other dangerous symptoms. As a rule, there is a grunting sound in the throat, while breathing in the child, the muscles of the chest are strongly compressed, and the nostrils are distended, it becomes sluggish or

loses consciousness.

Why does cyanosis appear

Blue skin occursBlue discoloration of the skin due to a decrease in the level of oxygen in the blood. Normally, it is bright red, so the body of a healthy person is pink. When the oxygen content decreases, the blood becomes dark bluish red and the skin turns blue. This is most noticeable on those parts of the body where the vessels are located close to the surface of the epidermis, and in dark-skinned people - in the mouth and under the nails.

Oxygen levels go down for a variety of reasonsBlue skin or lips (cyanosis). Here they are:

• Lung diseases. It could be an asthma attack or pneumonia.
• The defeat of the upper respiratory tract. When attacks of suffocation due to a foreign object in the trachea or edema and inflammation in the vocal cords, such as diphtheria, there is a lack of oxygen.
• Heart pathology. Often this is heart failure or congenital defects.
• Raynaud's disease. This is a disorder in which vascular spasms occur at the tips of the fingers, less often the nose or ears, so blood does not flow there.
• Hypothermia. If you stay in ice water or cold air, lips, nose, or fingers may turn blue due to reflexive narrowing of the arteries.
• Blockage by a thrombus. If it blocks the vessel through which blood enters the limb, then cyanosis also appears.
• Tight clothing or tight jewelry.
• OverdoseBlue discoloration of the skin drugs, sedatives.

Note that scientists also distinguishCyanosis and the Clinical Assessment of Hypoxemia a condition called pseudocyanosis. With it, the blue tint of the skin is not associated with a low level of oxygen in the blood, but appears due to the ingress of metals (nitrate or iodide of silver, lead) or the action of certain drugs. These are usually phenothiazines, amiodarone, or chloroquine hydrochloride. But even in this case, the help of a doctor is needed.

How to get rid of cyanosis

Everything will depend on its cause. If there are no dangerous symptoms described above, consult a physician. He will conduct an examination, which may includeBlue discoloration of the skin:

• General blood analysis and the study of its gas composition.
• Pulse oximetry. This is when a small clip is put on a finger - a pulse oximeter - and the oxygen saturation of the blood is measured through the skin.
• X-ray or CT of the chest.
• ECG - electrocardiogram.
• Ultrasound of the heart.

Cyanosis is not a disease, so the doctor will select a therapy that will help eliminate the very cause of blue skin. Somebody needs breathBlue discoloration of the skin oxygen mixture through a mask, for someone - medicines. So, with pneumoniaCommunity-acquired pneumonia in adults antibiotics are usually prescribed for asthmaAsthma - drugs for the expansion of the bronchi, and in Raynaud's diseaseRaynaud phenomenon - means to reduce spasm vessels. In some cases with vicesCongenital heart disease the heart even requires surgery.