Hyperventilation

= Excessive ventilation of the lungs beyond the ventilation that is necessary to maintain normal saturations.

Always exclude organic illness first.

In cases of true hyperventilation do not make the patient breathe into a bag, rebreathing CO2 can cause hypoxaemia.

Patients with hyperventilation due to anxiety or panic attacks will have an increased blood oxygen concentration and do not require oxygen.

Some of the common symptoms include: