Shock Flashcards
The symptoms of shock?
Low blood pressure is the main symptom. Other symptoms include rapid, shallow breathing; cold, clammy skin; rapid, weak pulse; dizziness, fainting, or weakness.
5 main types of shock?
- Septic shock (caused by bacteria)
- Anaphylactic shock (caused by hypersensitivity or allergic reaction)
- Cardiogenic shock (caused by heart damage)
- Hypovolemic shock (caused by blood or fluid loss)
- Neurogenic shock (caused by spinal cord trauma)
Septic shock, causes, symptoms and treatment?
Septic shock is when you experience a significant drop in blood pressure that can lead to respiratory or heart failure, stroke, failure of other organs, and death; as a result of an infection.
Septic shock symptoms
- very low blood pressure
- noticeably lower amounts of urine
- acute confusion
- dizziness
- severe dyspnea
- cyanosis
Treatment of Septic shock (generally by doctors) are the following:
- IV antibiotics to fight infection
- Vasopressor medications, which are drugs that help increase BP
- Insulin for blood sugar stability
- Corticosteroids (aka steroids; anti-inflammatory medicine)
Anaphylactic shock, causes, symptoms and treatment?
Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction that needs to be treated right away.
The first signs of an anaphylactic reaction may look like a typical allergy: runny nose or skin rash. But within 30 minutes more serious signs appear:
Usually more than one of these:
- Coughing; wheezing; and pain, itching or tightness in your chest.
- Fainting, dizziness, confusion, or weakness
- Hives; a rash; and itchy, swollen, or red skin
- Runny or stuffy nose and sneezing
- Shortness of breath, dyspnea and tachycardia
- Swollen or itchy lips or tongue
- Swollen or itchy throat, hoarse voice, trouble swallowing, tightness in your throat
- Vomiting, diarrhea, or cramps
- Weak pulse, paleness
Treatments:
Epinephrine (Adrenaline) is the most effective treatment for anaphylaxis, and the shot should be given straight away.
In severe cases a tracheostomy might be required, where a tube is put directly into the windpipe.
If symptoms don’t go away antihistamines and steroids are also given.
Cardiogenic shock, causes, symptoms and treatment
Cardiogenic shock is a condition in which your heart suddenly can’t pump enough blood to meet your body’s needs. The condition is most often caused by a severe heart attack, but not everyone who has a heart attack has cardiogenic shock.
Symptoms
- Rapid breathing
- Severe shortness of breath
- Tachycardia
- Loss of consciousness
- Weak Pulse
- Hypotension
- Sweating
- Pale skin
- Cold hands or feet
- Urinating less than normal or not at all
Treatment
Treatment focuses on minimising the damage from lack of oxygen to your heart muscle and other organs
- Extra oxygen
- Inotropic agents (norepinephrine) or dopamine
- Aspirin
- Thrombolytics (Clot busters)
- Antiplatelet medication
- Other blood-thinning medication
Hypovolemic shock, Causes, symptoms and treatments
Hypovolemic shock happens when a sudden and significant loss of blood or body fluids drops your blood volume.
Symptoms are:
- lots of bleeding (however if the bleeding is internal it wont be visible.)
- Tachycardia
- Quick, shallow breathing
- Feeling weak
- Fatigue
- Confusion
- Little or no pee
- Hypotension
- Cool, clammy skin
Treatment:
- Moved to ER asap.
- Pressure on wound to stop bleeding
- Oxygen
- IV fluids
- Blood transfusion if more than 30% of blood has been lost
- Surgery if internal bleeding
Neurogenic Shock
Neurogenic shock is caused by irregular blood circulation to the body; usually caused by trauma or injury to the spine.
Symptoms include:
- hypotension
- dizziness
- nausea
- vomiting
- blank stares
- fainting
- increased sweating
- anxiety
- pale skin
For severe cases
- Difficulty breathing
- Chest pain
- Weakness
- Bradycardia
- Faint pulse
- Cyanosis
- Hypothermia
Treatments?
- Immobilisation to prevent further damage
- IV fluids for BP regulation
- Vasopressors to tighten blood pressure
- atropine if bradycardia is present
