If your patient has signs of shock, rapidly infuse crystalloids, colloids, or blood warmed on a fluid warmer to restore volume and prevent hypothermia. Perform continuous cardiac and BP monitoring and pulse oximetry. Administer antihypertensive drugs, if indicated, to maintain a systolic BP of 100 to 120 mm Hg and pain medication as ordered. Notify the surgeon. Your patient will require surgery to repair the defect.
Cardiac output decreases, and the patient suffers hemodynamic compromise.
Untreated cardiac tamponade may lead to pulseless electrical activity and death. Triggers for cardiac tamponade include a ruptured thoracic aortic aneurysm, cardiac rupture following an MI, minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass surgery, chest trauma, or pericardial effusion caused by Kaposi's sarcoma of the pericardium or by another cancerous lesion, such as carcinoma of the lung or breast. Obtain diagnostic tests as ordered. The physician may perform transthoracic echocardiography to detect cardiac tamponade. How to intervene Maintain perfusion until fluid is removed from the pericardial space so the heart can fill and contract efficiently.