Essay on Cardiac Tamponade after Cardiac Surgery in Pediatric Patients

Introduction

Cardiac tamponade is an emergency in medical practice which is caused by fluid accumulation in the pericardial space (Tsukada, Nemoto, Ikegami, Suzuki & Tase, 2015). Most of the common signs and symptoms of cardiac tamponade include: dyspnea, tachypnea, tachycardia, increased chest pressure, decreased urine output and dysphonia. Cardiac tamponade post cardiac surgery is not a rare complication in pediatric cardiac patients. It is usually accompanied by postcardiotomy syndrome and can occur after closed or open surgery, however, in most cases it occurs after open heart surgery of congenital heart disease. The prevalence of cardiac tamponade is about 2% in pediatric patients. Serial echocardiographic monitoring should, therefore, be done for around 28 days postoperatively in the high-risk patients (Perez-Casares, Cesar, Brunet-Garcia & Sanchez-de-Toledo, 2017). Echocardiography usually shows the location, size, and presence of the effusion. It also indicates the presence of cardiac tamponade.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

There are no known risk factors that predispose children to pericardial effusion after surgery, but patients with bleeding disorders have a greater risk of developing cardiac tamponade than the rest of the population. Patients on oral anticoagulants such as warfarin are also more predisposed to cardiac tamponade (Aarabi-Moghaddam, Dalili & Zamani, 2012). Also, some procedures like the fontan type increase the likelihood of developing cardiac tamponade. The cardiac tamponade presses on the heart and obstructs ventricular filling and even causes haemodynamic compromise. The cardiac tamponade may press on one or more heart chambers. The best way to relieve pressure on the heart chambers is to drain the pericardial effusion. Cardiac tamponade is more of clinical diagnosis hence imaging modalities does not play a big role. Cardiac tamponade causes complications such as pulmonary edema, restrictive shock an even death.

Conclusion

In order to come up with efficient and effective literature required to address clinical questions about cardiac tamponade, evidence can be derived from different sources. The most recommended resources include peer-reviewed journals, books, and credible internet sources. The sources of the evidence must be reviewed by professionals to ensure the content provided is true.

References

Aarabi-Moghaddam, M., Dalili, M., & Zamani, H. (2012). Pericardial effusion after pediatric cardiac surgeries: a single-center observation. Research In Cardiovascular Medicine, 1(1), 28. http://dx.doi.org/10.5812/cardiovascmed.4601

Perez-Casares, A., Cesar, S., Brunet-Garcia, L., & Sanchez-de-Toledo, J. (2017). Echocardiographic evaluation of pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade. Frontiers In Pediatrics, 5. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fped.2017.00079

Tsukada, Y., Nemoto, C., Ikegami, Y., Suzuki, T., & Tase, C. (2015). Cardiac tamponade after extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Acute Medicine & Surgery, 3(2), 214-215. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ams2.128