How to Resuscitate Acute Congestive Heart Failure

  Patients with acute congestive heart failure should be resuscitated by first adjusting the patient’s position, keeping the patient in a sitting or semi-recumbent position and keeping the legs down, which will reduce the volume of return blood and thus decrease the volume load. Open intravenous access and administer oxygen therapy. For patients with respiratory alkalosis, face mask oxygenation is preferred. Furosemide is given intravenously, and sodium nitroprusside is pumped by an infusion pump. Adjust the rate of sodium nitroprusside input according to the patient’s clinical presentation and in conjunction with blood pressure. In patients with tachyarrhythmic atrial fibrillation accompanied by heart failure episodes, cediran can be given as a sedative to help improve symptoms, and theophylline can also be given as a sedative if the patient has dyspnea and wheezing that does not improve significantly with the above drugs. If the patient has new arrhythmias, such as supraventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, etc., antiarrhythmic or electric defibrillation should be given if necessary.  While applying medications, it is also important to monitor changes in renal function, liver function, arterial blood gases, blood counts, ions, blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation, and electrocardiography. It helps to assess the fluctuation of the patient’s condition in a timely manner.  For patients whose symptoms are still severe or do not resolve with the application of medication alone, intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation may be an option, which is an effective way to improve myocardial perfusion while reducing myocardial oxygen consumption and increasing cardiac output. If a patient has an acute attack of heart failure accompanied by respiratory failure, noninvasive ventilator-assisted ventilation or tracheal intubation may be indicated.  In the course of acute heart failure treatment, if the patient is anuric or oliguric and has progressive decompensation of renal function, such as creatinine greater than 500umol/L, blood purification therapy can be considered if necessary.