What are the 2 most common causes of 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.
How do you identify pulseless electrical activity?
Pseudo-PEA can be detected in the absence of a palpable pulse by:
- arterial line placement during cardiac arrest (identified by the presence of a blood pressure)
- high ETCO2 readings in intubated patients.
- echocardiography or Doppler ultrasound demonstrating cardiac pulsatility.
What best describes pulseless electrical activity?
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.
Can you shock pulseless electrical activity?
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.
Why is asystole not shockable?
Pulseless electrical activity and asystole or flatlining (3 and 4), in contrast, are non-shockable, so they don’t respond to defibrillation. These rhythms indicate that the heart muscle itself is dysfunctional; it has stopped listening to the orders to contract.
What is pulse less electrical activity?
Pulseless electrical activity (PEA) occurs when a major cardiovascular, respiratory, or metabolic derangement results in the inability of cardiac muscle to generate sufficient force in response to electrical depolarization.
What is the treatment 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.
Why does pulseless electrical activity happen?
Does asystole mean death?
If asystole persists for fifteen minutes or more, the brain will have been deprived of oxygen long enough to cause brain death. Death often occurs.
Does no pulse mean no heartbeat?
A weak pulse means you have difficulty feeling a person’s pulse (heartbeat). An absent pulse means you cannot detect a pulse at all.