Treatment options for atelectasis in the elderly need to be selected according to the specific severity and cause of the disease, mainly including postural drainage, physical sputum removal and surgical treatment.
1. Positional drainage: If the condition of atelectasis on one side of the lungs in the elderly is not particularly serious, and is related to the obstruction of local respiratory secretions, you can consider treating it through positional drainage, such as adopting the side-lying position or the standing position, making use of the factor of gravity to expel the secretions in the respiratory tract, relieving the pressure on the lungs and improving the lung problems.
2. Physical expectoration: If the atelectasis of one side of the lungs in the elderly is caused by the increase of localized sputum, physical expectoration methods can be considered, such as turning over and patting the back or vibrating the thoracic area, so as to promote the expulsion of sputum and alleviate the atelectasis of the lungs, which can be combined with the ultrasonic nebulization for treatment if necessary.
3. Surgery: If the condition of atelectasis in the elderly is more serious and has produced obvious bronchial obstruction or obvious compression, it is usually necessary to be treated through surgical methods to unclog the local pipeline and release the local compression, so as to improve the condition of atelectasis, so as to avoid the manifestation of respiratory difficulties.
After the occurrence of atelectasis, it is necessary to treat it as soon as possible to eliminate the triggering factors and prevent further aggravation of the condition in the later stage.