Definition
A surgical opening made in the pericardial sac in order to drain pericardial fluid, exudates if infectious in nature, or blood to relieve tamponade and restore normal cardiac physiology.
A surgical procedure that entails making an opening in the pericardial sac in order to diagnose penetrating cardiac injury.
Pre-existing Condition
Cardiac tamponadeis a hemodynamic emergency requiring prompt treatment in order to avoid a fatal outcome. It can complicate a number of medical conditions and it is important therefore that practitioners are aware of its presentation, diagnosis, and management. Cardiac tamponade occurs when the intrapericardial pressure exceeds the intracardiac pressure producing progressive reduction in diastolic ventricular filling and a consequent reduction in stroke volume and cardiac output. The normal pericardial space contains 15–50 ml of fluid, but depending on the etiology of the...
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References
Brewster SA, Thirlby RC, Snyder WH 3rd (1988) Subxiphoid pericardial window and penetrating cardiac trauma. Arch Surg 123(8):937–941
Kurimoto Y, Hase M, Nara S, Yama N, Kawaharada N, Morishita K et al (2006) Blind subxiphoid pericardiotomy for cardiac tamponade because of acute hemopericardium. J Trauma 61(3):582–585
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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Izenberg, R.A., Dicker, R. (2012). Pericardiotomy. In: Vincent, JL., Hall, J.B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Intensive Care Medicine. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00418-6_492
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00418-6_492
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-00417-9
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