Post-Cardiac Arrest Care Flashcards
7 cards from real CPR practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Post-Cardiac Arrest Care flashcards as text
Which organ system is most vulnerable to ischemia-reperfusion injury following cardiac arrest and ROSC?
Answer: Brain
The brain is exquisitely sensitive to ischemia-reperfusion injury due to its high metabolic demand and limited glycogen stores.
What ventilator setting change should be made if a post-arrest patient's PaCO2 is 30 mmHg?
Answer: Decrease respiratory rate or tidal volume to raise PaCO2
Hypocarbia causes cerebral vasoconstriction; the target PaCO2 is 35–45 mmHg, so ventilation must be reduced to correct hypocapnia.
In a comatose post-cardiac arrest patient, pupillary light reflex absence at 72 hours after normothermia is considered a predictor of what outcome?
Answer: Poor neurological outcome
Bilateral absence of pupillary light reflexes at ≥72 hours post-arrest is a reliable prognostic marker of poor neurological outcome per AHA guidelines.
Which medication class is used to suppress shivering during targeted temperature management without causing significant hemodynamic depression?
Answer: Magnesium sulfate
Magnesium sulfate raises the shivering threshold and is commonly used as a first-line anti-shivering agent with minimal cardiovascular effects.
A ROSC patient has a blood glucose of 220 mg/dL. What is the AHA-recommended management approach?
Answer: Treat hyperglycemia but avoid hypoglycemia; target 144–180 mg/dL
Current guidelines recommend treating hyperglycemia to a target of 144–180 mg/dL while carefully avoiding hypoglycemia, which is equally harmful.
What is the recommended duration of targeted temperature management (TTM) at the goal temperature?
Answer: 24–48 hours
Current evidence and AHA guidelines support maintaining TTM at the target temperature for 24–48 hours before initiating controlled rewarming.
During post-arrest care, which parameter best guides fluid resuscitation beyond initial boluses?
Answer: Dynamic measures of preload responsiveness (e.g., pulse pressure variation)
Dynamic indices like pulse pressure variation or stroke volume variation are superior to static CVP in predicting fluid responsiveness.