Bronchitis (cont.)
Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM
Dr. Ben Wedro practices emergency medicine at Gundersen Clinic, a regional trauma center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His background includes undergraduate and medical studies at the University of Alberta, a Family Practice internship at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and residency training in Emergency Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD
Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.
In this Article
- Acute bronchitis facts
- What is acute bronchitis?
- What causes acute bronchitis?
- What are the risk factors for acute bronchitis?
- What are the symptoms of acute bronchitis?
- When does a cold become acute bronchitis?
- How is acute bronchitis diagnosed?
- When should I call my doctor about my cough?
- What are the treatments for acute bronchitis?
- What are acute bronchitis home remedies?
- What are the complications of acute bronchitis?
- Bronchitis - Slideshow
- Finding Relief for Your Cough Slideshow
- Take the Bronchitis Quiz
- Bronchitis FAQs
- Find a local Pulmonologist in your town
How is acute bronchitis diagnosed?
Acute bronchitis is usually diagnosed through patient history and physical examination.
Patient history?
The health care practitioner may ask the following questions about the symptoms:
- What symptoms exist?
- When did they start?
- Is there a related fever?
- Is sputum being brought up by coughing?
- Is the sputum or color-tinted?
- Is there any blood tinge?
- Does the person smoke?
- Is there a history of asthma or COPD?
- Does the patient take any medications or inhalers that are used to treat underlying illnesses?
- What has the patient done to treat the symptoms?
- Were these measures successful?
Physical examination
The health care practitioner may examine of the patient's upper airways to look for signs of ear, nose, or throat infection including redness of the tympanic membranes (ear drums), runny nose, and post nasal drip. Redness of the throat or swelling and pus on the tonsils can help distinguish common cold, tonsillitis, and acute bronchitis symptoms. The neck may be palpated or felt to check for swollen lymph nodes. Listening to the lungs may reveal decreased air entry and wheezing.
A chest X-ray may be considered by the health care practitioner if there is a concern that a pneumonia or infection of lung tissue is present.
Blood tests are usually not helpful; occasionally, cultures of sputum are done if a bacterial pathogen is suspected.
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