Perimortem caesarean section following maternal gunshot wounds

Abstract

• Perimortem caesarean section is an ethically difficult decision for emergency medicine resuscitation teams. A 34-years-old woman was attacked by her husband with a gunshot. At the time arrival to the emergency room, there was no pulse, no spontaneous breath and blood pressure was unobtainable. Although extensive advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed for 7 minutes, no cardiac activity was regained. During the cardiopulmonary resuscitation efforts, an abdominal ultrasonography was performed and revealed a fetal heart rate with bradycardia. Low segment caesarean section was performed by the obstetrician in the resuscitation room and a female newborn was delivered within less than one minute of the skin incision. Decision on terminating the CPR efforts should not be made in maternal cardiac arrests older than 28 weeks’ gestational age, unless the viability of the fetus had been evaluated.
• KEYWORDS: Perimortem Caesarean Section, Pregnant Cardiac Arrest, Gunshot Wound, Emergency Department.