Respiratory Therapist

Category - Patient Evaluations and Recommendations

What is indicated when a patient’s sputum has recently increased in frequency and the color has changed from off white to yellow?
  1. Sinus drainage
  2. Chronic bronchitis
  3. Asthma
  4. Infection
Explanation
Answer: D - An increase in production and white sputum indicates an infection.

Sinus drainage would be clear, not white. A patient with chronic bronchitis, until having a new infection to surface, will not have a color change or frequency in the sputum. An asthmatic patient will experience bronchospasm but not sputum production.
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