Which action best addresses respiratory acidosis due to hypoventilation?

• A. Decrease ventilation
• B. Increase ventilation
• C. Oxygen therapy
• D. Administer diuretics

Answer: (B)

When respiratory acidosis is caused by hypoventilation, the key is to remove the cause of CO2 buildup by increasing alveolar ventilation. CO2 accumulates when ventilation is too low, and it combines with water to form carbonic acid, which lowers blood pH. By boosting ventilation, you increase the amount of CO2 that is expelled from the lungs, raising the arterial CO2 level normalization and the pH toward normal. In practice, this means encouraging deeper or faster breathing and, if needed, providing ventilatory support (such as assisted ventilation) to achieve adequate minute ventilation.

Oxygen therapy may help with low oxygen levels but does not address the CO2 retention driving the acidosis and can sometimes mask hypoventilation. Decreasing ventilation would worsen CO2 retention, and diuretics do not affect CO2 elimination or the underlying ventilation issue.