A patient who is breathing with reduced tidal volume would MOST likely have:

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A patient with reduced tidal volume experiences shallow respirations, meaning that each breath taken has less volume than normal. This occurs when the lungs cannot fully expand or when there is inadequate effort to inhale deeply. Shallow breaths are often seen in conditions such as restrictive lung disease, certain types of trauma, or when a patient is having difficulty due to pain or fatigue.

While rapid respirations might be present in some cases, they typically indicate hyperventilation or anxiety rather than a direct correlation with reduced tidal volume. Labored breathing often suggests that the patient is struggling to breathe and may have an increased respiratory effort, which does not align with the definition of reduced tidal volume. Normal depth breathing implies that the tidal volume is not compromised at all, which contradicts the premise of the question. Therefore, shallow respirations is the most accurate description of a patient with reduced tidal volume.

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