Commotio cordis as a rare cause of traumatic cardiac arrest in motorbike crashes: Report of a case.

Abstract

It is futile to attempt resuscitation in a blunt injury patient with no vital signs upon arriving at the emergency department. Therefore, it is recommended that resuscitation be withheld in any blunt trauma patient without vital signs while emergency medical technicians arrive at the scene of the accident. This report presents a case of a blunt torso trauma patient who lost vital signs at the scene and still received cardiopulmonary resuscitation until recovery of spontaneous circulation at the emergency department. The patient was later diagnosed with commotio cordis, and survived to be discharged without any neurological sequelae. Therefore, aggressive resuscitation should be continued until a diagnosis and differential diagnosis of blunt trauma-related cardiac arrest are made by a thorough examination in the emergency department.

• Authors: Chun-Chieh Yeh, Chi-Hsun Hsieh, Yu-Chun Wang, Ping-Kuei Chung, Ray-Jade Chen
• Journal: Surgery today (Surg Today) Vol. 40 Issue 4 Pg. 369-72 (Apr 2010) ISSN: 1436-2813 [Electronic] Japan
• PMID: 20339993 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)

Topics

• Accidents, Traffic
• Adolescent
• Commotio Cordis (complications, diagnosis)
• Heart Arrest (etiology)
• Humans
• Male
• Off-Road Motor Vehicles
• Resuscitation
• Wounds, Nonpenetrating (complications)