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Maternal Cardiac Arrest

airway management cardiac arrest emergency management Oct 02, 2023

Maternal cardiac arrest is not something we like to think about 🫤

But… knowing just a few key things can save the life of mother and baby 🤱❤️

The main obstetric causes of arrest are 👇

1️⃣ Haemorrhage
2️⃣ Heart failure
3️⃣ Amniotic fluid embolus
4️⃣ Sepsis

The main anaesthetic causes are 👇

1️⃣ High spinal
2️⃣ Local anaesthetic toxicity
3️⃣ Aspiration
4️⃣ Failed intubation
5️⃣ Anaphylaxis

Although it is very rare (1/25000 pregnancies), your team needs a shared plan. Here are the key points 🔑

👉 Use the standard ABC approach, BUT
👉 Ensure left lateral tilt (this can be done by manually displacing the uterus)
👉 Urgent delivery of fetus at 4 mins via caesarean section.

Survival of mother and baby relies on all 3 points being followed. As with any cardiac arrest, the reversible causes should be considered using the 4 H’s and 4 T’s.

Now your team has a plan to manage maternal cardiac arrest! 👌

Build knowledge ✅
Improve safety ✅

Ref: https://academic.oup.com/bjaed/article/15/1/44/257544




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