What are the 6 causes of pulseless electrical activity?
Various causes of pulseless electrical activity include significant hypoxia, profound acidosis, severe hypovolemia, tension pneumothorax, electrolyte imbalance, drug overdose, sepsis, large myocardial infarction, massive pulmonary embolism, cardiac tamponade, hypoglycemia, hypothermia, and trauma.
What are the two most common causes pulseless electrical activity?
Hypovolemia and hypoxia are the two most common causes of PEA. They are also the most easily reversible and should be at the top of any differential diagnosis. If the individual has a return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), proceed to post-cardiac arrest care.
What can you do for pulseless electrical activity?
Treatment / Management The first step in managing pulseless electrical activity is to begin chest compressions according to the advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) protocol followed by administrating epinephrine every 3 to 5 minutes, while simultaneously looking for any reversible causes.
What is ventricular pulseless electrical activity?
Pulseless electrical activity (PEA) is a clinical condition characterized by unresponsiveness and the lack of a palpable pulse in the presence of organized cardiac electrical activity.
How is pulseless electrical activity diagnosed?
Signs and symptoms As a result, PEA is usually noticed when a person loses consciousness and stops breathing spontaneously. This is confirmed by examining the airway for obstruction, observing the chest for respiratory movement, and feeling the pulse (usually at the carotid artery) for a period of 10 seconds.
Do you give adrenaline in PEA?
Start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with a 30:2 ratio of compressions to rescue breaths for people with pulseless electrical activity (PEA) or asystole. Give adrenaline 1 mg intravenously (IV) as soon as venous access is achieved.
Do you give atropine with PEA?
Atropine is inexpensive, easy to administer, and has few side effects and therefore can be considered for asystole or PEA. The recommended dose of atropine for cardiac arrest is 1 mg IV, which can be repeated every 3 to 5 minutes (maximum total of 3 doses or 3 mg) if asystole persists (Class Indeterminate).
Which drugs are used in PEA?
The mainstay of drug therapy for PEA is epinephrine (adrenaline) 1 mg every 3–5 minutes. Although previously the use of atropine was recommended in the treatment of PEA/asystole, this recommendation was withdrawn in 2010 by the American Heart Association due to lack of evidence for therapeutic benefit.
Is pulseless VT shockable?
VF and pulseless VT are both shockable rhythms.
How do you know if a patient is in PEA?
Pulseless electrical activity is diagnosed based on a patient having an organized, non-shockable rhythm and no palpable pulse. However, PEA is not always a cardiac arrest state. In many cases, patients with PEA have underlying cardiac activity and detectable arterial blood pressure.
Can someone have a heartbeat but no pulse?
Pulseless electrical activity (PEA) refers to cardiac arrest in which the electrocardiogram shows a heart rhythm that should produce a pulse, but does not. Pulseless electrical activity is found initially in about 55% of people in cardiac arrest.
Do you give atropine for PEA?
Do you shock for PEA?
Rhythms that are not amenable to shock include pulseless electrical activity (PEA) and asystole. In these cases, identifying primary causation, performing good CPR, and administering epinephrine are the only tools you have to resuscitate the patient.
What drug is given first for PEA?
Epinephrine should be administered in 1-mg doses intravenously/intraosseously (IV/IO) every 3-5 minutes during pulseless electrical activity (PEA) arrest.
How long do you stay alive after your heart stops beating?
After three minutes, global cerebral ischemia —the lack of blood flow to the entire brain—can lead to brain injury that gets progressively worse. By nine minutes, severe and permanent brain damage is likely. After 10 minutes, the chances of survival are low.