Emergency medicine clinics of North America
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Evaluating and treating traumatic cardiac arrest remains a challenge to the emergency medicine provider. Guidelines have established criteria for patients who can benefit from treatment and resuscitation versus those who will likely not survive. Patient factors that predict survival are penetrating injury, signs of life with emergency medical services or on arrival to the Emergency Department, short length of prehospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation, cardiac motion on ultrasound, pediatric patients, and those with reversible causes including pericardial tamponade and tension pneumothorax. Newer technologies such as resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta, selective aortic arch perfusion, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation may improve outcomes, but remain primarily investigational.
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · Nov 2020
ReviewExtracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in the Emergency Department.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a mechanical way to provide oxygenation, ventilation, and perfusion to patients with severe cardiopulmonary failure. Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) describes the use of ECMO during cardiac arrest. ⋯ A solid understanding of the components of the ECMO circuit is critical to troubleshooting problems. Current evidence suggests a substantial benefit of ECPR compared with traditional CPR for refractory cardiac arrest but is limited by lack of randomized trials to date.
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · Nov 2020
ReviewPearls and Pitfalls in the Crashing Geriatric Patient.
The geriatric population is growing and is the largest utilizer of emergency and critical care services; the emergency clinician should be comfortable in the management of the acutely ill geriatric patient. There are important physiologic changes in geriatric patients, which alters their clinical presentation and management. ⋯ Premorbid functional status, frailty, and severity of illness should be considered carefully for the geriatric population. Emergency clinicians should have honest conversations about goals of care based not only a patient's clinical presentation but also the patient's values.
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Pediatric cardiac arrest is a relatively rare but devastating presentation in infants and children. In contrast to adult patients, in whom a primary cardiac dysrhythmia is the most likely cause of cardiac arrest, pediatric patients experience cardiovascular collapse most frequently after an initial respiratory arrest. Aggressive treatment in the precardiac arrest state should be initiated to prevent deterioration and should focus on support of oxygenation, ventilation, and hemodynamics, regardless of the presumed cause. Unfortunately, outcomes for pediatric cardiac arrest, whether in hospital or out of hospital, continue to be poor.
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There are approximately 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and 200,000 in-hospital cardiac arrests annually in the United States, with survival rates of approximately 5% to 10% and 24%, respectively. The critical factors that have an impact on cardiac arrest survival include prompt recognition and activation of prehospital care, early cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and rapid defibrillation. Advanced life support protocols are continually refined to optimize intracardiac arrest management and improve survival with favorable neurologic outcome. This article focuses on current treatment recommendations for adult nontraumatic cardiac arrest, with emphasis on the latest evidence and controversies regarding intracardiac arrest management.