Total cessation of breathing is called?

Appeared in: HSSC Staff Nurse - 2015

Explanation

Apnoea is the medical term for the complete cessation or absence of breathing.
This condition can be temporary, as in sleep apnoea, or sustained, which is a life-threatening medical emergency requiring immediate intervention.
The key differentiator is that apnoea means 'no breathing' at all, whereas other terms like tachypnoea and bradypnoea describe the rate of breathing (fast or slow).

Why Other Options Were Wrong

Option A: Tachypnoea refers to an abnormally rapid respiratory rate, typically greater than 20 breaths per minute in an adult, not a cessation of breathing.
Option B: Orthopnoea is difficulty breathing when lying flat, which is relieved by sitting up. It is a symptom related to posture, not a cessation of breathing.
Option D: Bradypnoea refers to an abnormally slow respiratory rate, typically less than 12 breaths per minute in an adult.

Related Visual

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Respiratory Terminology and Patterns as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
Recognizing apnoea is a critical nursing skill, as it requires immediate intervention to prevent hypoxic brain injury and death.
Nurses must be able to quickly assess breathing and initiate Basic Life Support (BLS) protocols, including rescue breaths and CPR.
What if? If the patient was only gasping intermittently (agonal respirations) instead of having complete apnoea, the nursing action would be the same: treat it as a respiratory arrest and start CPR immediately, as gasping is not effective breathing.

How to Approach the Question

First, identify the key phrase in the question: 'total cessation of breathing'.
This is a definition-based (recall) question. Your goal is to match the definition to the correct medical term.
Break down the prefixes and suffixes if you know them. 'A-' often means 'without' or 'absence of', and '-pnoea' relates to breathing.
Evaluate each option based on this: Tachypnoea (tachy = fast), Bradypnoea (brady = slow), Orthopnoea (ortho = straight/upright).
Apnoea (a = without) directly translates to 'without breathing', which matches the definition of 'total cessation of breathing'.

Concept Tested & Keywords

Concept Tested: Respiratory Terminology and Patterns
Stem keywords: total cessation, breathing
Lead-in keywords: is called

Question ID

Qzh_-X-k3ZjsdMm_7aZhk5

Reference Book

E6 Physiology Essentials Sembulingam 10e Part 3 p. 1-3

E6 Robert Boland, Marcia L. Verduin - Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Text of Psychiatry-Wolters Kluwer Health (2024) (pp 1-16525 of 16525) p. 6990-6992

E6 Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics(2024) — Volume 1 p. 1084-1086

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