Emergency Medical Minute

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Hyperkalemia may cause cardiac arrest  Treatment of suspected hyperkalemic cardiac arrest begins with typical management of cardiac arrest including high-quality CPR, defibrillation if appropriate, and resuscitation medications  Administer calcium products to stabilize cardiac membrane and potassium shifting medications  If ROSC is achieved, initiate dialysis  There are several case reports of patients being dialyzed while CPR is ongoing, with some success   Dialysis during resuscitation may be an appropriate treatment for some patients  References Jackson MA, Lodwick R, Hutchinson SG. Hyperkalaemic cardiac arrest successfully treated with peritoneal dialysis. BMJ. 1996;312(7041):1289-1290. doi:10.1136/bmj.312.7041.1289 Kao KC, Huang CC, Tsai YH, Lin MC, Tsao TC. Hyperkalemic cardiac arrest successfully reversed by hemodialysis during cardiopulmonary resuscitation: case report. Chang Gung Med J. 2000;23(9):555-559. Torrecilla C, de la Serna JL. Hyperkale