emDocs - November 4, 2016 - Authors: Patrick C and Brit Long
Edited by: Robertson J and Koyfman A
"Summary
As seen, the differential for bradycardia is broad, and management depends on the suspected etiology. Not all bradycardia can be fixed with atropine and pacing. The emergency provider must focus his or her history and physical to narrow the differential to address the underlying pathology to effectively treat symptomatic bradycardia.
Overall remember that:
- Bradycardia is defined as a HR <60bpm
- Bradycardia can be benign and asymptomatic
- An EKG is essential to obtain as early as possible
- There is a broad differential for symptomatic bradycardia, and one can organize some of the causes into 5 categories: Structural/EP, Infectious, Endocrine, Toxicology/Iatrogenic, and Other
- Temporizing measures such as vasoactive drugs and pacing should be considered, but may not be effective in certain patients"