• Muhammad Usman Ali, Donna Fitzpatrick-Lewis, Meghan Kenny, Parminder Raina, Dianne L Atkins, Jasmeet Soar, Jerry Nolan, Giuseppe Ristagno, and Diana Sherifali.
• McMaster Evidence Review and Synthesis Centre, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W., McMaster Innovation Park, Room 207A, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada; Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Room HSC-2C, 1200 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, L8N 3Z5, Canada.
• Resuscitation. 2018 Nov 1; 132: 63-72.

PurposeThe purpose of this systematic review is to provide up-to-date evidence on effectiveness of antiarrhythmic drugs for shockable cardiac arrest to help inform the 2018 International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation Consensus on Science with Treatment Recommendations.MethodsA search was conducted in electronic databases Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library from inception to August 15, 2017.ResultsOf the 9371 citations reviewed, a total of 14 RCTs and 17 observational studies met our inclusion criteria for adult population and only 1 observational study for pediatric population. Based on RCT level evidence for adult population, none of the anti-arrhythmic drugs showed any difference in effect compared with placebo, or with other anti-arrhythmic drugs for the critical outcomes of survival to hospital discharge and discharge with good neurological function. For the outcome of return of spontaneous circulation, the results showed a significant increase for lidocaine compared with placebo (RR = 1.16; 95% CI, 1.03-1.29, p = 0.01).ConclusionThe high level evidence supporting the use of antiarrhythmic drugs during CPR for shockable cardiac arrest is limited and showed no benefit for critical outcomes of survival at hospital discharge, survival with favorable neurological function and long-term survival. Future high quality research is needed to confirm these findings and also to evaluate the role of administering antiarrhythmic drugs in children with shockable cardiac arrest, and in adults immediately after ROSC.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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