Chapter 29: The Cardiovascular, Circulatory, and Lymph Systems Flashcards
What are the risk factors for high blood pressure (hypertension HTN)?
Obesity
High-sodium diet
Lack of physical activity
Stress
Excessive alcohol consumption
Genetics
Age (mostly over 35 years old)
Race (African Americans are at higher risk)
CHF
Congestive Heart Failure
Cardiac Glycoside Drug of Choice:
digoxin/ Lanoxin
Most patients are started on a high dose of digoxin and maintained on about one-quarter of the original dose. This process is called digitalization.
Commonly called “water pills.”
Diuretics
Allows more blood to exit the heart, thereby preventing or mitigating congestion and increasing cardiac output.
Vasodilators
Work directly on the blood vessels in the arms and legs to treat moderate to severe HTN.
Peripheral Vasodilators
Drug of Choice to Treat Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)
ACE Inhibitors (Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors)
-pril
The drug preferred for treatment of a particular condition or disease.
Drug of Choice (DOC)
Oral anticoagulant Drug of Choice (DOC)
warfarin
Parenteral Anticoagulant Drug of Choice (DOC)
heparin
Code FAST
Stroke protocol.
F (ace)
A (rms)
S (peech)
T (ime)
What is the “window of opportunity” for tissue plasminogen activators (t-PAs)?
Usually less than 3 hours from the onset of symptoms, however some thrombolytics may be used within 6 hours from the onset of symptoms.
These drugs are extremely expensive.
A recently compounded thrombolytic (t-PA) has an expiration time of:
8-24 hours
What is the antidote for a warfarin overdose?
Vitamin K
What is the antidote for a heparin overdose?
protamine sulfate
What is the antidote for a thrombolytic enzyme overdose?
aminocaproic acid
Drugs with a very small difference between therapeutic and toxic doses:
Narrow Therapeutic Index (NTI) Drugs
Three Examples of NTI Drugs:
digoxin
warfarin
heparin
What is the difference between “generic equivalent” and “therapeutic equivalent”?
A generic equivalent must contain the same active ingredient.
A therapeutic equivalent is expected to have an equal effect as the drug it is being substituted for.
The FDA Orange book covers generic and therapeutic equivalents.
adenosine/ Adenocard
Used in crash cart to slow irregular/rapid heartbeat.
aspirin
Used in crash cart during heart attack to this blood and increase blood flow.
atropine
Used in crash cart to dry up saliva for intubation. Also used to stabilize heart rate during/after heart attack.
dextrose
Used in crash cart for hypoglycemia and insulin shock.
digoxin/ Lanoxin
Used in crash cart to treat heart failure.
epinepherine
Crash cart usage: Smaller dose is used for severe allergic reactions, larger dose is used to jump-start the heart.
flumazenil/ Romazicon
Used in crash cart to reverse the effects of benzodiazepine overdoses.
furosemide/ Lasix
Used in crash cart to help eliminate fluids and excess drugs from the patient’s system.
Glucagon
Used in crash cart to treat hypoglycemia.
glucose, oral
Used in crash cart to treat hypoglycemia.
heparin
Used in crash cart to thin blood and increase blood flow.
lidocaine
Used in crash cart to relax the heart muscle.
magnesium sulfate
Used in crash cart to lower blood pressure.
naloxone/ Narcan
Used in crash cart to reverse opioid overdoses.
nitroglycerine tab/ spray
Used in crash cart to relax blood vessels (vasodilator) and promote blood flow.
vasopressin
Used in crash cart to raise blood pressure.
sodium bicarbonate
Used in crash cart to treat severe metabolic acidosis.
verapamil
Used in crash cart to treat high blood pressure (HTN).
