Question

a local emergency department has called for a critical patient transfer to a larger trauma center. you obtain a report from the physician, learning that the patient has cardiac tamponade. your assessment of this patient would reveal distended neck veins, a weak pulse and:

Answer 1

For a patient with cardiac tamponade, you would expect to find distended neck veins, a weak pulse, and muffled heart sounds due to the accumulation of fluid in the pericardial space. Associated hypotension is another critical sign. Treatment involves draining the excess fluid to relieve the heart's pressure.

Step-by-step explanation:

When assessing a patient with cardiac tamponade, characterized by excess fluid accumulating in the pericardial space, you would expect to find signs such as distended neck veins, a weak pulse, and muffled heart sounds. This condition prevents the heart from fully relaxing and filling with blood, leading to decreased blood ejection with each contraction. The presence of hypotension (low blood pressure) is also a key clinical sign, in addition to pulsus paradoxus (a decrease in systolic blood pressure during inspiration), associated with cardiac tamponade.

Cardiac tamponade can result from conditions like myocardial rupture, pericarditis, cancer, or complications post-cardiac surgery. Rapid accumulation of fluid, even as little as 100 mL following trauma, can trigger this condition. The treatment usually involves the removal of excess fluid via pericardial drainage to relieve the pressure on the heart, restoring its normal pumping function and preventing further complications or death.