A condition affecting someone with broken ribs, where the chest appears to move in when he or she breathes in, and appears to move out when he or she breathes out.
Acute respiratory distress in which the chest falls and the abdomen rises on inspiration.
Breathing movements seen in patients with broken ribs: on inhalation the chest wall moves in instead of out, and vice versa on exhalation.
The reverse of the normal movements of breathing. The chest wall moves in instead of out when breathing in (inspiration), and out instead of in when breathing out (expiration). The spaces between the ribs are indrawn on inspiration a symptom seen in children with respiratory distress, say, as a result of asthma or lung infections. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) often suffer from paradoxical breathing; and trauma to the rib cage, with fractured sternum and ribs, also causes the condition. Treatment is of the underlying cause.