Skip to main content
hypercapnic

hypercapnic

1 9.9
Having too much carbon dioxide in the blood
  • adjective
  • /ˌhaɪpərˈkæpnɪk/
  • Specialized
: hipercápnico
  • The doctor explained that hypercapnic patients often experience confusion and headaches due to high carbon dioxide levels.
  • hypercapnic patients

So when you're in episodic hypoxia, if anything, you're going to become hypocapnic, not hypercapnic.

Examples

  • During the examination, the nurse assessed the hypercapnic condition of the patient by measuring blood gas levels.

  • The NICE guidance states that oxygen should be administered if oxygen saturation levels (SpO2) are less than 94% with no risk of hypercapnic respiratory failure.

    Academic text (2010)
  • However, good results have been reported, especially in hypercapnic patients.

    Academic text (2000)
  • This is the largest reported group of hypercapnic patients receiving NPV.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Square on the y-axis is the mean value for all hypercapnic patients assigned conventional oxygen therapy (n=9).

    Academic text (2000)
  • In the study, hypercapnic individuals showed improved outcomes with specific respiratory treatments.

How Much CO2

hypercapnic
  • Specialized
1 9.9
acapnial
  • Specialized
9.9

Surface Forms

hypercapnic positive

Morphology

hypercapnic = hypercapnia (opaque) = hyper + capn + ic

The adjective is formally built from the medical noun 'hypercapnia' plus '-ic', but the root 'capn' is not transparent to most learners.

Etymology

The word hypercapnic has two parts: hyper- meaning 'too much', the same part you see in hyperactive, and capn- from a Greek word for 'smoke' that doctors use for 'carbon dioxide'. So, hypercapnic means having 'too much' carbon dioxide in the blood.