Valsalva maneuver

(noun)

Performed by making a moderately forceful attempt to exhale against a closed airway; this is usually done by closing one's mouth and pinching one's nose shut while pressing out as if blowing up a balloon.

Related Terms

Examples of Valsalva maneuver in the following topics:

  • Heart Murmurs

    • This finding, also called Carvallo's maneuver, has been found by studies to have a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 80-88% in detecting murmurs originating in the right heart.
    • Abrupt standing or squatting may cause changes in murmur sounds, as does the valsalva maneuver, a forceful attempted exhalation against a closed airway, usually done by closing one's mouth and pinching one's nose while pressing out as if blowing up a balloon.
    • One study found the valsalva maneuver to have a sensitivity of 65% and a specificity of 96% in detecting hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM).
    • Both standing and doing the valsalva maneuver will decrease venous return and increase the loudness of the murmur while squatting will increase venous return and thus decreases the murmur.
    • This type of murmur increases with standing and the valsalva maneuver.

  • Carotid Sinus Syncope and Massage

    • Like the valsalva maneuver, it is a therapy for SVT.

  • Vagus (X) Nerve

    • This occurs commonly in cases of viral gastroenteritis , acute cholecystitis, or in response to stimuli such as the Valsalva maneuver or pain.

  • Orbital Maneuvers

    • In spaceflight, an orbital maneuver is the use of propulsion systems to change the orbit of a spacecraft.
    • For any such maneuver (or journey involving a number of such maneuvers):
    • The total delta-v for each maneuver estimated for a mission is called a delta-v budget.
    • Orbit insertion is a general term used for a maneuver when it is more than a small correction.
    • Orbital inclination change is an orbital maneuver aimed at changing an orbiting body's orbit inclination (this maneuver is also known as an orbital plane change as the plane of the orbit is tipped).

  • Grant's Pursuit of Lee

    • Grant did not withdraw his army following this setback, but instead maneuvered to the southeast, resuming his attempt to interpose his forces between Lee and Richmond.
    • Grant maneuvered again, meeting Lee at the Battle of North Anna.
    • Maneuvering a final time, Grant surprised Lee by stealthily crossing the James River, threatening to capture the city of Petersburg, the loss of which would doom the Confederate capital.
    • It inflicted proportionately higher losses on Lee's army and maneuvered it into a siege at Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia, in just over eight weeks.

  • Spinal Reflexes

    • The Jendrassik maneuver is a medical maneuver wherein the patient flexes both sets of fingers into a hook-like form and interlocks those sets of fingers together (note the hands of the patient in the chair).
    • This maneuver is used often when testing the patellar reflex, as it forces the patient to concentrate on the interlocking of the fingers and prevents conscious inhibition or influence of the reflex.

  • Siege of Vicksburg

    • The Vicksburg Campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the western theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi River.
    • The campaign consisted of many important naval operations, troop maneuvers, and failed initiatives, aa well as 11 distinct battles from December 26, 1862, to July 4, 1863.
    • Over the next 17 days, Grant maneuvered his army inland and won five battles, captured the state capital of Jackson, Mississippi, and assaulted and laid siege to Vicksburg.

  • The Allied Drive Toward Berlin

    • The crossing of the Rhine, the encirclement and reduction of the Ruhr, and the sweep to the Elbe-Mulde line and the Alps all established the final campaign on the Western Front as a showcase for Allied superiority in maneuver warfare
    • The crossing of the Rhine, the encirclement and reduction of the Ruhr, and the sweep to the Elbe-Mulde line and the Alps all established the final campaign on the Western Front as a showcase for Allied superiority in maneuver warfare.

  • The Battle of Chattanooga

    • The Chattanooga Campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in October and November 1863, during the American Civil War.
    • Rosecrans, executed a series of maneuvers that forced Confederate General Braxton Bragg and his Army of Tennessee to abandon Chattanooga and withdraw into northern Georgia.

  • Founding of the Roman Empire

    • Augustus rose to power after Julius Caesar's assassination through a series of political and military maneuvers, eventually establishing himself as the first emperor of Rome.