I work in a CCU stepdown, almost everyone has an electrical problem. I've been on the unit for almost a year (new to practice) and I can't count the number of times someone has a run of non-sustained VT and as the nurse heads to the room he or she says, "I bet she's peeing again."
A couple days ago a patient was peeing, went in to SVT @ 160, then VT to 240, coded and died.
This motivated me to finally ask the question...
...Is there a connection between urinating and arrythmias? First off, does anyone else see this all the time like i do?
Second, here's my only guess...It makes sense that given all the diuresis and antihypertensives, postural hypotension would be an issue for many heart patients. And when patients stand to pee, the normal physiologic response - an increase in HR - is exaggerated because of this orthostatic hypotensive state. And if this patient is also predisposed to tachyarrythmias, this exaggerated increase in hr (and maybe even the volume shift) sets off the arrhythmia.
This is my best guess but I'm sure one of you smarter people have the ACTUAL answer (assuming that this phenomenon is not just unique to my floor).
