Breathe Easier with Respiratory Services at Southcoast Health

We understand that your quality of breathing affects many areas of your health and life. If shortness of breath or other issues limit your activities, look to Southcoast Health — we offer respiratory services in southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including:

• Breathing treatments, such as inhaled medications like nebulizers
• Respiratory intervention, such as mechanical ventilation during surgery
• Bronchial Thermoplasty, a FDA approved non-drug procedure for severe, persistent asthma
• Pulmonary function testing (PFT)

If you have questions about your respiratory health, find a respiratory therapist near you today. You can trust us to diagnose your condition and get your breathing back on track.

Pulmonary Function Testing in Southeastern MA

Pulmonary function testing is completely painless and helps physicians diagnose and treat shortness of breath, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and work-related disorders. PFT is also used for presurgical screenings, as well as post-drug, radiology and chemotherapy evaluation.

Southcoast Health offers a number of pulmonary function tests as part of our respiratory services, such as:

• Spirometry pre- and post-bronchodilator testing: Determines your response to inhaled bronchodilators and helps to diagnose reactive airway disease
• Lung volume testing via nitrogen washout: Measures lung capacity while breathing pure oxygen and determines increased/decreased lung capacity, which can be indicative of certain lung diseases
• Diffusion capacity testing: Measures the amount of oxygen that is transferred from lung tissue into the bloodstream, determines causes for shortness of breath and monitors for certain disease processes, such as asbestosis and scleroderma
• 6-minute walk and ambulatory oximetry: Measures oxygen saturation levels during activity and can qualify patients for home oxygen use
• Pediatric treadmill testing: Helps physicians diagnose and treat young patients with exercise-induced reactive airway diseases like asthma

We also offer arterial blood gases (ABG), co-oximetry, body box testing, methacholine challenge testing and simple pulmonary function stress testing.

Southcoast Health provides respiratory services in Fall River, Fairhaven, New Bedford and Wareham, MA at Charlton Memorial Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital, Tobey Hospital, Southcoast Center for Primary & Specialty Care and Southcoast Health at Rosebrook.