Can IV Antibiotic Be Administered While Suffering From Respiratory Distress?

Posted on Tue, 31 Jan 2017

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 31 Jan 2017 Answered on

Fri, 10 Mar 2017 Last reviewed on

Question : If a p.t. is a DNR w special tx,
They are desatu ratio w respiratory distress 24-30 respirations but i place on o2 and the o2 increases from 82-87 up to 94 but cont w respiratory distress temp 99.4. If i could stable o2 sat and because she repeatedly hospitalized for infection. Could I have called md and made suggest in house iv atb therapy w cxr cbc u/a and discuss to make full DNR instead of sending out for the 2nd time w in a month

Answered by Dr. Rahul Tawde (8 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Yes

Detailed Answer:
Hello, Thank you for posting your question on HealthcareMagic.
Keeping the DNR status and the patient's ageing mind ,I would definitely recommend you to go ahead with your desicion .
IV antibiotic could definitely be given at home and since she is on oxygen therapy already it is good as you could maintain good oxygen saturation.
The tachypnoea could be due to fever also please give the patient Tab Calpol and do cold sponges .It would help a great deal.
Meanwhile if you could ,ask a MD to see her at home and start off with IV antibiotic.
Hope this helps
Best wishes

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D