Prehospital ultrasound detects pericardial tamponade in a pregnant victim of stabbing assault.
The development of handheld, portable ultrasound devices has enabled the use of this diagnostic tool also in the out-of-hospital environment. We report on a pregnant teenager who was found haemodynamically unstable after a stab assault. When she suffered cardiac arrest shortly thereafter, diagnosis of cardiac tamponade was made by portable ultrasound, and immediate pericardiocentesis was performed by the emergency physician. While her baby died after emergency Caesarean section, the teenager survived after thoracotomy and prolonged resuscitation without neurological sequelae.
Byhahn
Christian
C
Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, J.W. Goethe-University Medical School, Frankfurt/M, Germany. c.byhahn@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Bingold
Tobias M
TM
Zwissler
Bernhard
B
Maier
Marcus
M
Walcher
Felix
F
D000293:Adolescent; D002305:Cardiac Tamponade / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D002585:Cesarean Section; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D013908:Thoracotomy; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014951:Wounds, Stab / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery