Acute cardiac tamponade is a serious crisis and should be sought on 120 and sent urgently to the nearest hospital, firstly to minimise the time of cerebral ischaemia caused by hypotension and to stabilise haemodynamics. Small doses of intravenous antihypertensive drugs, such as dopamine and fisetin, should be administered intravenously. A poor response to antihypertensive drugs is indicative of a poor prognosis for the patient.
However, some antihypertensive drugs have the potential to increase the rate of pericardial effusion because of their ability to produce positive inotropic effects and care should be taken to screen for appropriate use. Pericardial compressions due to cardiac interventions are usually acute. Effective resuscitative measures include mainly percutaneous pericardial puncture and drainage and surgical open-heart or repair procedures.
Patients with chronic cardiac compressions, most often caused by infections, tumours, renal failure and idiopathic pericarditis, progress more slowly and may be seen in cardiology, where primary conditions such as tumours are treated after diagnosis by ultrasound, and pericardiocentesis or pericardial drainage is performed to relieve compressions if necessary.