Tag: Complete heart block

While some emergency medications may be used as temporary measures, a permanent pacemaker is almost always the required and definitive treatment for a third-degree heart block. This severe form of arrhythmia, also known as complete heart block, involves a complete breakdown of electrical communication between the heart's upper and lower chambers. Emergency medical care focuses on stabilization, but medication alone is not a cure.

Although atropine is a standard first-line treatment for many forms of symptomatic bradycardia, major medical guidelines, including those for Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), strongly advise against its use in complete heart block. This is because the fundamental mechanism of the medication cannot resolve the core issue in this specific cardiac condition.