Introduction:

Polypnea and tachypnea have different meanings in several texts, and medical studentsmay get confusedwith just the study of the semiology of dyspnea.

Objective:

Toelucidatethe semantic gap between polypnea and tachypnea.

Material and Methods:

A bibliographic review was conducted usinghealth science descriptors such as tachypnea and polypnea; a search was performed in 15 texts of Medical Semiology and other printed or electronic books and journals, among them, theRevista Española de Cardiología(fromJanuary 1997 to December 2020) andArchivos de Bronconeumología (from December 1964 toDecember 2020); in addition, the etymological analysis of these words was carried out in Medigraphic (2012-2021).

Results:

Six out of fifteen texts on semiology consider that the termspolypnea and tachypnea are synonymous; fourtexts only use polypnea; and two use the term tachypnea. Three texts distinguish tachypnea as increased respiratory rate, andpolypnea as arapid, shallow breathing; two texts define tachypnea as a simple increase in the respiratory rateor a decrease in the respiratory amplitude (shallow breathing); and polypnea or hyperpnea as the increasein depth and rate of breathing.In scientific journals, the term tachypnea was usedin 192 papersto refer to rapid, shallow breathing; andpolypnea had the same meaning in 27 articles. According to its origin, tachypnea means rapid respiratory rate; Polypnea is presented as very frequent and shallow breathing, unrelated to polýpnoos: “that blows forcefully”; while hyperpneameans an increase in the speed and amplitude of respiratory movements.

Conclusions:

Polypnea and tachypnea should be considered as equivalents of rapid andshallow breathing; simple tachypneaif the respiratory amplitude is normal; and hyperpnea designs a very frequent and deep breathing.

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