tachypnea
Meaning of tachypnea: Tachypnea is a breathing rate that is abnormally high for a person’s age and clinical circumstances.
Definition of tachypnea
Tachypnea is breathing faster than the expected respiratory rate, often with relatively shallow breaths. In a resting adult, a rate above 20 breaths per minute is commonly described as tachypnea, while normal ranges differ for infants and children. It may be a normal response to exercise or emotion or a sign of respiratory, cardiac, infectious, metabolic, neurologic, or other illness.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
The nurse documented tachypnea while assessing the patient’s respiratory status.
Good to know
Tachypnea is an observed breathing-rate abnormality. It is distinct from dyspnea, the subjective sensation of difficult breathing, and from hyperventilation, ventilation that exceeds the body’s metabolic need.
Word origin
Where “tachypnea” comes from
Built from Greek tachys, meaning “rapid,” and pnoe, meaning “breathing.”