pericardiocentesis

A pericardiocentesis takes about 20 to 60 minutes to perform.

Your doctor will monitor you for several hours after a pericardiocentesis.

Learn about the purpose of Pericardiocentesis, what to expect and how to prepare for this test.

You can wear whatever you like to the hospital for a pericardiocentesis.

Insert a needle through chest wall and remove blood around heart (pericardiocentesis).

Some pre-hospital providers will have facilities to provide pericardiocentesis, which can be life-saving.

The surgical procedure group had significantly higher average costs of $4,830 compared with $1,625 for patients managed with pericardiocentesis.

In some patients, fluid may again collect in the pericardium after pericardiocentesis.

Initial management in hospital is by pericardiocentesis.

The patient undergoing pericardiocentesis is positioned supine with the head of the bed raised to a 30- to 60-degree angle.

Thoracocentesis and pericardiocentesis are performed to remove excess fluid.

Pericardiocentesis: The removal of fluid from the pericardium using a needle inserted through the chest wall.

Occasionally, pericardiocentesis is performed on an emergency basis to treat a condition called cardiac tamponade.

Fluid is first removed by pericardiocentesis.

This may be used when an effusion has recurred (come back) after pericardiocentesis or as an alternative to more invasive surgery.

Pericardial drainage (pericardiocentesis) is done to find the cause of fluid buildup around the heart and to relieve pressure on the heart.

Your doctor uses pericardiocentesis to:

Needle thoracentesis, pericardiocentesis, thoracostomy tube placement, etc.

In medicine, pericardiocentesis is a procedure where fluid is aspirated from the pericardium (the sac enveloping the heart).

If treatment is indicated for management of tamponade, percutaneous subxiphoid pericardiocentesis is the treatment of choice in the acute setting.

If the patient has already suffered a cardiac arrest, pericardiocentesis alone cannot ensure survival, and so rapid evacuation to a hospital is usually the more appropriate course of action.

Because neither finding provides 100% sensitivity and specificity, patients who are clinically symptomatic should have a diagnostic pericardiocentesis, even in the absence of definitive findings on echocardiography.

Pericardial effusion may be drained in a procedure called pericardiocentesis, which involves using a needle and sometimes a thin tube called a catheter to drain the fluid.

Treatment options include percutaneous pericardiocentesis, pericardial sclerosis, subxiphoid pericardial window, pericardiectomy, or pericardotomy by thoracotomy or video-assisted thoracoscopy.

Girardi LN, Ginsberg RJ, Burt ME: Pericardiocentesis and intrapericardial sclerosis: effective therapy for malignant pericardial effusions.