Which nursing intervention helps maintain airway after CABG?

• A. Collaborate with respiratory therapy for mechanical ventilation & weaning
• B. Administer O2 per nasal cannula
• C. Encourage C & DB and use incentive spirometer QH
• D. Assess drainage from chest tubes hourly

Answer: (C)

Promoting airway clearance after CABG hinges on expanding the lungs and preventing stagnation of secretions. After surgery, shallow breathing from pain and the sternotomy can lead to atelectasis. Encouraging cough and deep breathing helps mobilize secretions and increases lung volume, while incentive spirometry provides a visual target for sustained maximal inspiration, actively re-expanding collapsed alveoli and improving ventilation. Doing these activities hourly while awake, with good pain control and splinting of the chest, best preserves airway patency and reduces pulmonary complications. Oxygen therapy supports oxygenation but doesn’t engage the lung-expansion process as effectively as Cough & Deep Breathe with incentive spirometry. Chest tube drainage monitoring is essential for other reasons but doesn’t directly maintain the airway.