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Prehospital Treatment of Acute Pulmonary Edema with Intravenous Bolus and Infusion Nitroglycerin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2020

Michael C. Perlmutter Open the ORCID record for Michael C. Perlmutter [Opens in a new window] ,
Matthew W. Cohen ,
Nathan S. Stratton  and
Marc Conterato
Michael C. Perlmutter*
Affiliation:
North Memorial Health Ambulance and Air Care, Robbinsdale, Minnesota USA University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
Matthew W. Cohen
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
Nathan S. Stratton
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
Marc Conterato
Affiliation:
North Memorial Health Ambulance and Air Care, Robbinsdale, Minnesota USA University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
*
Correspondence: Michael Perlmutter, BA University of Minnesota Medical School 420 Delaware St SE Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 USA E-mail: perlm062@umn.edu
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Abstract

Objective:

The study describes the implementation of a prehospital treatment algorithm that included intravenous (IV) bolus (IVB) nitroglycerin (NTG) followed by maintenance infusion for the treatment of acute pulmonary edema (APE) in a single, high-volume Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system.

Methods:

This is a retrospective chart review of patients who received IVB NTG for APE in a large EMS system in Minnesota and Wisconsin (USA). Inclusion criteria for treatment included a diagnosis of APE, systolic blood pressure ≥120mmHg, and oxygen saturation (SpO2) ≤93% following 800mcg of sublingual NTG. Patients received a 400mcg IVB of NTG, repeated every two minutes as needed, and subsequent infusion at 80mcg/min for transport times ≥10 minutes.

Results:

Forty-four patients were treated with IVB NTG. The median total bolus dose was 400mcg. Twenty patients were treated with NTG infusion following IVB NTG. The median infusion rate was 80mcg/min. For all patients, the initial median blood pressure was 191/113mmHg. Five minutes following IVB NTG, it was 160/94mmHg, and on arrival to the emergency department (ED) it was 152/90mmHg. Five minutes after the initial dose of IVB NTG, median SpO2 increased to 92% from an initial reading of 88% and was 94% at hospital arrival. One episode of transient hypotension occurred during EMS transport.

Conclusion:

Patients treated with IVB NTG for APE had reduction in blood pressure and improvement in SpO2 compared to their original presentation. Prehospital treatment of APE with IVB appears to be feasible and safe. A randomized trial is needed to confirm these findings.

Keywords

edemacardiacEmergency Medical Servicesheart failuresystolicnitroglycerinpulmonary edema
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 35 , Issue 6 , December 2020 , pp. 663 - 668
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine

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