Emergency Medicine and Critical Care COPY Flashcards
What is Tosardes de Pointes
Tosardes De pointes is a form of polymorphic wide complex Ventricular Tachycardia that occurs in patients with Prolonged QT interval
Can degenerate into Ventricular Fibrillation
Can cause significant haemodynamic compromise and death
What is the management of Tosardes de Pointes?
If stable Treat with IV magnesium Sulphate over 1-2 minutes and stop any causative medications
if unstable with haemodynamic compromise, DC cardioversion can be done
In recurrent TdP despite Magnesium sulphate and correction of reversible causes, IV isoprenaline infusion is indicated
What are the causes of Long QT syndrome?
Causes of Long QT can be remembered using the mnemonic TIIMMES
T - Toxins: Drugs including anti-arrhythmics, anti-psychotics and tricyclic antidepressants, macrolide antibiotics can also increase QT interval e.g erythromycin
I - Inherited: Congenital long QT syndromes such as Romano-Ward, Jervell, Lange-Nielson syndromes
I - Ischaemia
M - Myocarditis
M - Mitral Valve prolapse
E - Electrolyte abnormalities such as hypokalaemia and hypocalcaemia
S - Subarachnoid Haemorrhage
Why does Ondansetron increase QT interval?
Ondansetron is a 5HT3 antagonist - helps reduce nausea and for patients who can’t keep oral foods down - can increase QT interval and puts patients at risk of TDP
Methadone can prolong QT interval
Why can’t Cyclizine be prescribed to the elderly or IVDU?
Cyclizine is a H1 receptor antagonist and used for travel sickness
It has anti-cholinergic effects which can increase high from opiates especially methadone and avoided in the elderly cause it can lead to delirium
What is a Pulmonary Embolism?
A Pulmonary Embolism is a sudden blockage of a major blood vessel of the lung usually by a clot
How does Pulmonary Embolism present?
Presentation is variable but clinical features include:
- Pleuritic Chest pain
- Difficulty breathing
- Hypoxia
- Haemoptysis
- Low grade fever
- Syncope (only sometimes though)
Patients may also have signs of symptoms of a DVT affecting their limbs
What are the risk factors for Pulmonary Embolism?
Risk factors can be remembered using the mnemonic A EMBOLISM:
- A - Age
- E - Ex (previous) DVT/PE
- M - Malignancy
- B - Baby (Pregnancy)
- O - Oestrogen: OCT/HRT
- L - Large (Obesity)
- I - Immune conditions/Inherited Thrombophilias: such as anti-phospholipid syndrome, factor V Leiden
- M - Mobility: Surgery within the last 2 months, bed rest >5 days, recent air travel
What are the most common ECG findings in PE?
Sinus tachycardia (regular rhythm) is the most common finding
Right heart strain can also be seen - Right Bundle Branch Block, right axis deviation, T Wave inversion and ST segment changes
There is also the rare S1Q3T3 features (Large S wave in lead 1, Q wave and T wave inversion in lead 3)
What are the other investigations in PE?
Well’s Score should be calculated - if Well’s score is low, then D-dimer should be measured - if Well’s Score is high (with or without abnormal d-dimer level), a CTPA (CT Pulmonary angiogram) should be ordered
D-dimer levels are useful for it’s negative predictive value - causes of false positive d-dimer value includes pregnancy, old age, malignancy and infections
A CTPA is the gold standard investigation for a suspected PE
What is the acute management for PE?
Should be assessed using ABCDE
A - Airway: likely to be patent
B - Breathing: the patient may be tachypnoeic and hypoxic. Oxygen should be administered (i.e 15L of oxygen via non-rebreathe mask)
C - Circulation: Patient may be tachycardiac. Signs of right heart strain are suggestive of sub-massive PE. Hypotension is suggestive of a massive PE. Consider intravenous fluids if the systolic blood pressure is <90mmHg
D - Disability: likely to be unremarkable
E - Exposure: the patient may have a low grade pyrexia. Important to check for signs of DVT. consider analgesia at this stage if required
Thrombolysis (intravenous bolus of Alteplase) is indicated in massive PE. debate over whether it should be administered in a sub-massive PE.
Management should also include anticoagulation, with guidance currently suggesting a DOAC (Direct-acting oral anti-coagulant) as first-line
Patients showing evidence of right heart strain and persistent hypotension may be candidates for intra-arterial or intravenous thrombolysis
What is the Interventional management of PE?
Embolectomy may be considered in patients with massive PE when thrombolysis is contraindicated
What are the complications of PE?
- Obstructive shock
- Arrhythmias
- Pulmonsary artery hypertension
- Death
What is a tension pneumothroax?
Tension pneumothorax is where air is trapped in the pleural cavity under positive pressure, displacing the mediastinal structures and compromising cardiopulmonary function
TP occurs when air enters the pleural cavity through a one way valve and cannot escape.
Life threatening because it can lead to pressure of mediastinal organs if not treated immediately
What are the causes of Tension Pneumothorax?
Penetrating Trauma from road traffic accident or iatrogenic procedures such as central line insertion or lung biopsy
What are the clinical features of Tension Pneumothorax?
Clinical Features include:
- Haemodynamic instability: Tachypnia, tachycarida, hypotension, raised JVP
- Tracheal Deviation away from the affected side
- Decreased chest expansion
- Increased resonance on percussion
- Decreased breath sounds
- Decreased vocal resonance
- Surgical emphysema
TP is a clinical diagnosis and should be treated immediately
What are the signs on examination with a right sided tension pneumothorax
- Trachael deviation to the left
- Reduced chest expansion
- Hyper resonant on the right
- Decreased vocal resonance on the right
What is the management of Tension Pneumothorax?
Treatment involves immediate needle decompression with large bore needle inserted into the 2nd intercostal space in the midclavicular line just above the third rib (to avoid damaging the neurovascular bundle below that sits below each rib) - this is called needle thoracocentesis
Should then be followed by chest drain insertion to reduce the risk of an immediate recurrence of the TP
What is Supra-ventricular tachycardia?
Supraventricular tachycardia is any narrow complex tachycardia characterised by a heart rate of more than 100bp and a QRS width of less than 120ms on an ECG
What are the most common SVTs?
- Atrial Fibrillation
- AV re-entry Tachycardia (AVRT)
- AV Nodal Re-entry Tachycardia (AVNRT)
What are the features of AV Nodal Re-entry Tachycardia on ECG?
- Narrow Complex tachycardia
- P waves that occur after QRS (short PR interval) or are englufed by QRS (not visible)
What are the adverse features of SVT and management?
Remember Mnemonic HISS:
- H - Heart Failure
- I - Ischaemia
- S - Shock
- S - Syncope or hypotension (SBP <90mmHg)
Patients with adverse features should be given synchornised DC schock
What is the management of SVT in stable patients?
In stable patients, it depends on whether their rhythm is regular or irregular
if regular:
- vagal manoeuvres such as carotid sinus massages or the Valsalva manoeuvre
- If this fails then IV adenosine 6mg (works by temporarily blocking AV node - should also be warned that they might experience difficulty breathing, chest tightness or flushing)
- should be given rapidly over 1-3 seconds followed by a bolus of 20ml IV normal saline - if this fails a second dose of Adenosine 12mg can be administered and then followed by another 18mg
- If this fails then beta-blocker or Verapamil can be tried before DC cardioversion
- Should be noted that asthma is a major contraindication of Adenosine so if patient has history of asthma then give Verapamil instead after vasovagal maneuvores
If irregular rhythm, should be treated as AF according to algorithm
What is the management of SVT in unstable patients?
Synchronised DC cardioversion