Why is carotid massage contraindicated in ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia?
Carotid massage slows down normal anterograde conduction pathway .
In VT/V fib : control is taken over by ventricular myocytes (multiple foci) . If you slow down normal conduction pathway also : then you can never achieve sinus control over arrythmia .
Also these pts of Vtach and Vfib are usually not hemodynamically stable that you can conduct carotid massage …you need dc shock for this
thank you. I wasn’t sure about it