title: Spontaneous tension pneumoperitoneum presenting as an out of hospital cardiac arrest: A case report and review of the literature.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It is known that tension pneumoperitoneum (TPP) can lead to cardiopulmonary arrest but it does not figure in the advanced life support algorithms. Therefore we discuss a case of TPP together with the literature review of its aetiology and treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  We describe an out of hospital cardiac arrest due to a spontaneous TPP secondary to a perforated duodenal ulcer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Emergency personnel should consider the possibility of TPP in a patient with a distended abdomen and a cardiac arrest, even in the absence of known traumatic and iatrogenic causes for TPP. We believe that TPP should be added as a reversible cause for pulseless electrical activity in the resuscitation guidelines.
authors.affiliation: a Emergency Department , University Hospital Ghent , Ghent , Belgium.
authors.forename: Roel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De Smet
authors.affiliation: a Emergency Department , University Hospital Ghent , Ghent , Belgium.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Paepe
authors.affiliation: a Emergency Department , University Hospital Ghent , Ghent , Belgium.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Buylaert
authors.affiliation: a Emergency Department , University Hospital Ghent , Ghent , Belgium.
authors.forename: Said
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hachimi Idrissi
mesh_terms: D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D058687:Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest; D011027:Pneumoperitoneum
keywords: Out of hospital arrest; Resuscitation; Spontaneous; Tension pneumoperitoneum