Doctors in Respiratory Medicine Diagnose and treat conditions affecting the respiratory (breathing) system, ie the nose, throat (pharynx), larynx, the windpipe (trachea), the lungs and the diaphragm.
Respiratory Medicine has a close relationship with Critical Care Medicine. Most Respiratory Physicians supervise non-invasive ventilation in the support of patients with acute respiratory failure in the High Dependency Unit environment, and many have sessions helping to run Intensive Care services and expertise in the management of the Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome. Respiratory Physicians have considerable technical skills. They undertake bronchoscopy (both diagnostic and, increasingly, interventional), pleural procedures (including pleural biopsy and chest drain insertion), medical thorascopy for the more invasive investigation of pleural effusion and non-invasive ventilation.