Showing posts with label heart resuscitation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heart resuscitation. Show all posts

Friday, April 12, 2013

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

Adult Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation                                       
Introduction
Cardio-respiratory arrest is cessation of mechanical activity of the heart. It is a clinical diagnosis evidenced by unresponsiveness, apnoea or agonal respirations and absence of a detectable central pulse. Immediate and systematic action is essential to prevent death or permanent cerebral damage.
Survival after cardiac arrest out of hospital is extremely low. Coronary artery disease is the commonest cause for sudden cardiac arrest, affecting nearly 700,000 people a year in Europe and one third of people developing a myocardial infarction die before reaching the hospital. The commonest presenting rhythm is rapid ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation. In the absence of immediate bystander initiated cardio-pulmonary resuscitation this deteriorates to asystole.
In- hospital cardiac arrest occurs in a sicker group of patients and only 20% of them will survive to leave the hospital. The presenting rhythm is either asystole or pulseless electrical activity.
Causes of cardiac arrest
Cardio-pulmonary arrest may occur due to airway obstruction, breathing inadequacy or cardiac abnormalities.
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