Cardiac Arrest Etiology Causes Diagnosis Treatment

In children, cardiac arrest is typically caused by hypoxiaHypoxia has several meanings: Hypoxia is the lack of oxygen in tissues, see Hypoxia (medical) Hypoxia is the lack of oxygen in a water body leading to the death of organisms, see Hypoxia (water). from other causes such as near- drowningDrowning is death due to asphyxia caused by immersion in fluid, usually water. Near drowning is initial survival of a drowning accident which can lead to serious secondary complications including death; cases of near drowning therefore require attention b. With prompt treatment survival rates are high.

Every fatal injury or illness ultimately terminates in cardiac arrest, which is a natural part of the processes of death.

3 Diagnosis

The state of cardiac arrest is diagnosed in an unconscious (unresponsive to vigorous stimulation) person who does not have a pulseFor additional meanings of the word pulse please see pulse (disambiguation). In medicine, a person's pulse is the throbbing of a person's arteries as an effect of their heart beat, which can be felt at the wrist and other places. The term is also used to.

An ECG clarifies the exact diagnosis and guides treatment. but treatment should begin without awaiting an ECG. The ECG may reveal:

Potentially treatable causes of pulseless electrical activity and some other arrhythmias include:

4 Treatment

4.1 First aid

Seconds count. Call for help immediately or send someone for help. Begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) immediately. CPR only buys time for advanced responders to arrive and does not restart the heart. If an automated external defibrillator is available, use it at once.

4.2 Field care

Appropriately trained personnel apply advanced cardiac life support protocols as soon as they arrive, unless there is a valid do not resuscitate order or advance health directive. If so, it is ethically appropriate to permit natural death to occur in accordance with the wishes of the patient.

4.3 Hospital treatment

In many hospitals, cardiac arrest results in one of the carers announcing a "Code Blue" for immediate response by a trained team of nurses and doctors. The resuscitating team continues advanced cardiac life support until the patient recovers or a doctor declares the patients death.

5 Ethical Issues

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and advanced cardiac life support are not always in a persons best interest. This is particularly during terminal illness when resuscitation will not alter the outcome of the disease. Properly performed CPR often fractures the rib cage. Defibrillation, especially repeated several times as called for by ACLS protocols, may also cause electrical burns. Internal cardiac massage, an ACLS procedure performed by emergency medicine physicians in requires splitting open the rib cage, which is painful during the weeks of recovery. While such treatment is worthwhile when it saves a life, it is undignified and simply adds to the suffering of a victim with a terminal illness who wishes to die peacefully.

It is not surprising that most people with a terminal illness choose to avoid such "heroic" measures and die peacefully.

People with views on the treatment they wish to receive in event of a cardiac arrest to should discuss these views with both their doctor and with their family.

It is also important that these views are written down somewhere in the medical record. In the event of cardiac arrest, health professionals need to act quickly on the information that is available to them. As cardiac arrest often happens out of regular hours, the resuscitation team rarely includes anybody who actually knows the patient.

A patient may ask their doctor to record a do not resuscitate (DNR) order in the medical record. Alternatively, in many jurisdictions, a person may formally state their wishes in an " advance directive" or " advance health directive".

Home > Cardiac arrest

1 Etiology

2 Causes