Case reportPrehospital ultrasound detects pericardial tamponade in a pregnant victim of stabbing assault☆
Section snippets
Case report
An emergency medical technician unit and a physician-staffed ambulance were dispatched simultaneously to an apartment when a caller to the police reported that he just stabbed his girlfriend multiple times. Six minutes later both units arrived at the scene. The emergency physician, a board-certified anaesthesiologist and intensivist, found a 17-year-old girl unresponsive (Glasgow Coma Scale score 7) and in severe shock. A bystander reported her to be pregnant in the 26th week of gestation. The
Discussion
Injury to the large thoracic vessels and cardiac tamponade are the leading causes of prehospital mortality in patients with blunt or penetrating chest trauma.2 While therapeutic options for aortic injuries are almost unavailable at the site of the accident, cardiac tamponade can, however, be treated temporarily by pericardial puncture even in the prehospital environment. This gains time until definitive treatment becomes available in the hospital. However, if the diagnosis of cardiac tamponade
Conflict of interest statement
None to declare.
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Cited by (53)
Cardiac arrest during pregnancy: ongoing clinical conundrum
2018, American Journal of Obstetrics and GynecologyCitation Excerpt :Direct cardiac massage can be performed via diaphragmatic approach during PMCD and may enhance organ perfusion when ROSC has not yet occurred.49-51 Direct cardiac massage has also been utilized during thoracotomy performed in the setting of trauma or cardiothoracic surgery.52-54 CPB and ECMO can be utilized when the suspected etiologies of cardiac arrest are potentially reversible during a limited period of mechanical cardiorespiratory support.
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in pregnancy after 20 weeks gestation: emphasis on decision-making by emergency physicians responding to the event
2017, International Journal of Obstetric AnesthesiaPrehospital Ultrasound: A Narrative Review
2024, Prehospital Emergency CareRecommendations for Education in Sonography in Prehospital Emergency Medicine (pPOCUS): Consensus paper of DGINA, DGAI, BAND, BV-ÄLRD, DGU, DIVI and DGIIN
2023, Medizinische Klinik - Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin
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A Spanish translated version of the summary of this article appears as Appendix in the final online version at 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2007.07.020.