Family First Aid Illustrated Dictionary - Popular Medical Aid Reader (Popular Medical Aid Reader)

Author: Xu Shaochun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: Symptoms and Signs
(1) Age of Onset: Chest pain in young people is commonly associated with pleurisy, spontaneous pneumothorax, and cardiomyopathy; in older adults, it is often caused by angina pectoris and myocardial infarction.
(2) Location of Chest Pain: Inflammation of the chest wall is often localized and red, swollen, painful, and warm; herpes zoster presents as clustered blisters distributed along one intercostal nerve; esophageal and mediastinal lesions cause chest pain behind the sternum; angina pectoris often occurs in the anterior chest or behind the sternum.
(3) Nature of Chest Pain: Herpes zoster causes a knife-like or burning pain; esophagitis is usually a burning pain; angina pectoris presents as a squeezing pain accompanied by a sense of suffocation; dry pleurisy often causes sharp, piercing, or tearing pain.
(4) Triggers of Chest Pain: Fatigue, strenuous physical activity, and mental stress can trigger angina attacks; chest pain from pleurisy and pericarditis may worsen with deep breathing and coughing.
(5) Chest Pain and Etiology: Chest pain accompanied by difficulty swallowing suggests esophageal disease; accompanied by cough or hemoptysis suggests pulmonary disease; accompanied by dyspnea suggests large-scale pulmonary lesions, such as lobar pneumonia or exudative pleurisy.
Emergency Treatment
(1) If the patient experiences respiratory distress or difficulty breathing, they can sit upright with bedding or cushions behind them.
(2) The patient can sit with pillows pressed against their chest to alleviate chest pain.
(3) For angina, rest locally and advise the patient to take nitroglycerin sublingually.
(4) For chest pain caused by other reasons, oral indomethacin 25 mg three times daily or ibuprofen 0.2 g three times daily can be administered; other pain relievers such as naproxen or pain tablets may also be used.
(5) A topical pain-relieving patch (e.g., Shangshi Zhisheng Gao) can be applied.
(6) If chest pain persists after these measures, seek immediate medical attention.
Precautions
(1) Chest pain from angina pectoris is often located behind the sternum or in the left anterior chest, worsening with movement and relieving after rest.
(2) Sudden chest pain accompanied by dyspnea often suggests spontaneous pneumothorax after pulmonary rupture and requires immediate emergency medical care. P20