You thrive by using the oxygen your lungs distribute throughout your body.
But life becomes a challenge when you face difficulty breathing or your
lungs don’t function properly.
Comprehensive Pulmonary & Respiratory Care
Choose the pulmonology and respiratory care experts at OU Health in Oklahoma
City and Edmond to help you breathe better. You gain access to top-quality
services, advanced technology and innovative treatments discovered in
clinical trials conducted by our academic health center scientists.
When you partner with OU Health, you’ll work with a multidisciplinary
team of pulmonologists and specialists from across the healthcare spectrum
– neurology, radiology, surgery, trauma, cardiology and more –
to develop an accurate diagnosis for your pulmonary or respiratory condition
and create an individualized treatment plan to address your specific situation.
Call for an Appointment or Second Opinion
Explore your pulmonary and respiratory health options or get a second opinion
from an OU Health pulmonologist or thoracic surgeon.
Talk with your primary care doctor and OU Health pulmonologists to evaluate
your respiratory health any time you receive an abnormal chest X-ray,
if you feel like you can’t get enough air or if you cough up blood
or mucus. And you’ll want to visit with an OU Health pulmonary or
respiratory expert if you experience a lingering cough, decreased ability
to exercise, discomfort or pain when breathing in or out, shortness of
breath or trouble breathing. Such symptoms may indicate respiratory conditions such as:
At OU Health, you benefit from the safest and most current treatment options
designed to help you achieve the best results for your particular situation.
Your expert pulmonology care team uses an advanced pulmonary function
laboratory to develop a comprehensive evaluation and accurate diagnosis
for your condition. Your treatment options may include a wide range of
medications, including innovative therapies available nowhere else except
through clinical trials conducted at OU Health, as well as:
Interventional pulmonology through our academic partnership with the University of Oklahoma comprehensive
Interventional Pulmonology Center for endoscopy and other tools to diagnose and treat conditions in the
lungs and chest
At OU Health, you receive timely appointments, coupled with a multidisciplinary
approach to care, encompassing specialists from thoracic radiology, lung
pathology, and rheumatology working closely with experts in advanced lung diseases.
No matter where you live in Oklahoma or the region, you’ll benefit
from access to expert pulmonary specialists who deliver comprehensive
treatment and advanced therapies for advanced lung diseases including:
Transbronchial lung cryobiopsy for obtaining lung tissue for diagnosis. This procedure is the leading
edge of pulmonary medicine. Ours is the only center in the state of Oklahoma
to adopt this approach, thus offering the ability to obtain more tissue
in minimally invasive way.
Right heart catheterizations, which include vasoreactivity testing with inhaled nitric oxide, and provocative
testing such as fluid challenge, dobutamine challenge and exercise right
heart catheterization to better characterize pulmonary vascular diseases.
Cardiac PET protocol that includes metabolic and perfusion images of the heart for diagnostic
and prognostic purposes in patients with cardiac sarcoidosis, a result
of a collaboration with nuclear medicine.
Expert Assistance to Stop Smoking & Quit Tobacco
If you smoke or use other forms of tobacco, you know the challenges of
trying to quit. So does OU Health – and that’s why you can
rely on our expert pulmonologists and researchers to help you break the cycle.
As part of OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center, the scientists and healthcare
specialists at the Oklahoma Tobacco Research Center (OTRC) use grant funds
from the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) to develop
a variety of services, such as
tobacco cessation, a free program to help you quit. OTRC helps reduce Oklahoma’s leading
causes of preventable death – tobacco use and obesity – that
contribute to elevated rates of cancer and cardiovascular disease across
the state.
Respiratory Therapy
To support the personalized treatment plan developed by you and your pulmonary
care team, you’ll work with OU Health’s respiratory therapists,
whether you’re in the hospital or at home. Your therapists handle
certain diagnostic tests and the therapeutic treatments identified in
your plan.
Your Safety Takes Top Priority
Respiratory therapy may support your health while hospitalized for a wide
range of conditions and situations such as heart attack, stroke, chronic
asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, pneumonia or COPD. If you’re of advanced
age or if you experienced a traumatic injury or other situation that requires
a stay in the hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU), you benefit
from OU Health’s respiratory therapy experts whose diligent attention
and teamwork assure your safety.
Although, nationally, 23 percent of hospitalized people on a ventilator
acquire a particular form of pneumonia, no cases of this condition have
happened at Edmond Medical Center during the previous five years. As always,
at OU Health, your safety takes top priority.
Thoracic Conditions & Treatments
If your respiratory condition requires surgery, you benefit from access
to Oklahoma’s largest thoracic surgical practice, part of OU Health
in Oklahoma City. You gain access to the latest thoracic surgical procedures,
both ongoing medical innovations and tomorrow’s breakthroughs, not
available anywhere else in the region.
Thoracic Surgery
Thoracic surgeons at OU Health perform minimally invasive, robotic-assisted
and traditional procedures on all organs in the chest including the heart,
lungs and esophagus. Depending on your condition, your options may include:
Esophageal surgery – Removes tumors in the esophagus with procedures, such as esophagectomy;
often involves removing and reconnecting part of the stomach
Chest wall surgery – Repairs or reconstructs congenital conditions, trauma-related
damage or chest wall tumors
Your Pulmonology, Respiratory Care & Thoracic Experts
As you work with OU Health specialists to address your pulmonary, respiratory
or thoracic health condition, you benefit from the expertise, advanced
training and years of experience held by the physicians and specialists
who also educate the next generation of doctors, surgeons and therapists.
Depending on your specific situation, your OU Health team members may include
pulmonary/critical care physicians, board-certified sleep medicine specialists,
certified interventional pulmonology specialists, thoracic and cancer
surgeons, oncology experts and trauma specialists, among others.
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