Bradyarrhythmias are of a wide variety and are generally considered common. While some bradyarrhythmias are benign and do not necessitate any medical intervention, some might be fatal thus require immediate emergency department actions; or otherwise, cardiac arrest and death may ensue. The key to the management of bradyarrhythmias in the emergency department lies in its early identification by a thorough history, physical examination, and ECG interpretation. Accordingly, the management plan is reflected by the presence of symptoms and their severity, vital signs status of the patients, ECG patterns, underlying causes, and possible reversibility. As medical students learn the theoretical and practical approaches to the management of bradyarrhythmias in the Emergency Department (ED), there are common pitfalls that they encounter, and those pitfalls could be serious and lethal in some instances. Knowledge about the correct way of assessing, diagnosing, and treating bradyarrhythmia patients, and avoiding the common pitfalls that they may face is critical. This paper aims to review the definition of bradyarrhythmia, its various classification, the clinical approach to the condition according to the approved guidelines, and how to subsequently manage the condition. Additionally, our study aims to guide the appropriate response on dealing with bradyarrhythmia patients, by determining the priorities of management and assessing the clinical presentation based on the stability of the patient, and by providing a training protocol for Emergency Physicians. In this review article, a literature search on bradyarrhythmia was performed in terms of methodology, diagnosis, and management. The MeSH included these keywords: “Bradycardia” OR “Bradyarrhythmia” AND “Prevalence” OR “ECG Interpretation” OR “ACLS” OR “Bradyarrhythmia Protocols”..
Key words: Bradyarrhythmia, management, pitfalls in teaching bradyarrhythmia, ER/ED guidelines
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