Cardiac arrest and people going stiff?

Hello

Has anyone known anyone to have a period or moment of "tonic posturing" sometime during the seconds following a cardiac arrest, before revival?

According to this, that is what happens...
Look at page 456 at "Neurological signs" paragraph
http://books.google.com/books?id=tndqYGP...

Yet on the other page, it contradicts it's self a bit (especially when it talks about waves getting faster/slower, more/less intense
Look at page 459 on that link at paragraph "EEG changes during cardiac arrest of cerebral circulation and with syncope (see also Chapter 28)", no mention of tonic posturing here.

Tell me if you have seen, or know of a cardiac arrest leading to stiffing of body, tonic posturing or any body movements?

Goliath

While I have seen decorticate and decerebrate posturing during cardiac arrests on multiple occasions, I myself have don't readily recall witnessing the type of tonus-clonus associated with the usual grand mal seizure. However, it is documented in various medical texts as a distinct possibility. As a matter of course, medical workers are generally taught that arrhythmia may be a possible trigger of seizures; thus every post ictal patient, or one which has had a witnessed seizure gets an EKG as standard protocol.

Ralph

I have participated in literally hundreds of codes. There can be involuntary movements of any part of a patient's body as they slip closer and closer to death. These are usually subtle, not like a seizure type movement. The body stiffening occurs many hours after death occurs.

If you are asking about movements that may occur the second someone STARTS to become unconscious - from a cardiac arrest, syncope or a vasovagal episode, there can in fact be movements that look like seizure type activity as they go from consciousness to unconsciousness. It does not occur with every person every time - this is patient specific and mostly occurs with a syncopal episode.

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