Electrolyte Emergencies
Sodium is the primary ion affecting the QRS complex. Potassium is the primary ion affecting T waves. If there is a QT abnormality, you should check a serum calcium - Luke Lawton
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Electrolytes and the Heart
I was talking to a group of my junior registrars the other day about cardiac physiology, and I was struck by how much trouble they seemed to have relating electrolytes to the QRS complex. We sat down and nutted it all out which left everyone happy. The key to understanding the effects of electrolytes is to understand the cardiac action potential, and how it relates to the QRST complex seen on an ECG.
Resources
Electrolyte abnormalities
EKG can be used to evaluate for ischemic changes, but also can give the provider some early insight into the patient’s electrolyte levels. A combination of clinical history paired with EKG findings consistent with elevated potassium levels, should prompt emergent treatment to stabilize the cardiac membrane.
Electrolyte Abnormalities
The differential diagnoses of the most frequent and clinically relevant electrolyte abnormalities are detailed...
Electrolytes and ECG changes
The electrocardiogram can pick up all sorts of electrolyte abnormalities. The most common abnormalities revolve around high and low levels of potassium and calcium. Magnesium derangements typically have nonspecific findings. How do you keep things straight? To make things more complicated, multiple electrolyte derangements can occur at the same time, making ECG interpretation challenging.
Electrolytes and the ECG Intervals: Big Data and Little Insight
For the first time, “big data” from large, diverse populations associated electrolyte concentrations to ECG intervals. Notwithstanding numerous intriguing relationships, on close inspection, these data raise more questions than provide answers.
General characteristics of patients with electrolyte imbalance admitted to emergency department
As we cannot assume that patients have single electrolyte imbalances, we conclude that clinical symptoms and findings are reflections of multiple interactions of electrolytes and regulatory systems in the organism.
Paediatric Critical Care: Electrolyte Emergencies
This guidance offers advice for staff treating children in critical care with severe electrolyte derangement until their electrolytes normalise. The advice is for all non-arrest situations and additional advice is included where there is an arrest situation.
Electrolytes and the Heart
One of the hardest things to do is to remember what the effects of different electrolyte imbalances are on the ECG. But, if you remember the basic physiology of electrolytes, it’s dead simple.
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