Gastric mucosal lacerations after cardiac resusciration.

Several reports have stressed the complications that may follow cardiac resuscitation (Baringer et al., 1961; Bynum, Connell, and Hawk, 1963; Jude, Kouwenhoven, and Knickerbocker, 1964), but gastric lacerations were not documented until Lundberg et al. (1967) reported their occurrence in 5 patients at necropsy. We report another 4 patients with gastric lacerations at necropsy, and one patient surviving cardiac resuscitation in whom there is presumptive evidence that a haematemesis was due to gastric laceration. We support the contention of Lundberg and his associates that gastric mucosal lacerations are a not uncommon complication of cardiac resuscitation.