Cough

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Lungs

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In an emergency, you will be treated first to stabilize the condition. After the condition is stable, the doctor will ask questions about your cough, including:

• Are you coughing up blood? (How much, how often)
• Do you bring up any mucus/sputum when you cough? What does it look like? Is it thick and hard to cough up? How much sputum do you produce per day?
• Is the cough severe? Is the cough dry?
• Does the cough sound like a seal barking?
• What is the pattern of the cough? Did it begin suddenly? Has it been increasing recently? Is the cough worse at night? When you first wake up?
• How long has the cough lasted?
• Is the cough worse when you are lying on one side?
• Do you have sudden attacks of coughing with gagging and vomiting?
• What other symptoms do you have?

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The health care provider will do an examination of your ears, nose, throat, and chest.

Tests that may be performed include:

• Bronchoscopy
• Chest x-ray
• Chest CT scan
• Lung scan
• Pulmonary function tests (including oximetry)
• Sputum analysis (if the cough produces sputum)

Review Date: 05/25/2011
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org).