Resuscitation
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Defibrillation plays a crucial role in early return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and survival of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and shockable rhythm. Prehospital adrenaline administration increases the probability of prehospital ROSC. However, little is known about the relationship between number of prehospital defibrillation attempts and neurologically favourable survival in patients treated with and without adrenaline. ⋯ Overall, a greater number of prehospital defibrillation attempts was associated with lower neurologically favourable survival at 1 month in patients with OHCA and shockable rhythm. However, an increasing number of shocks (up to the 4th shock) was associated with better neurological outcomes when considering only patients treated with adrenaline.
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Tracheal intubation is associated with interruption in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Current knowledge of tracheal intubation during active CPR focuses on the out-of-hospital environment. We aim to describe characteristics of tracheal intubation during active CPR in the emergency department (ED) and determine whether first attempt success was associated with CPR being continued vs paused. ⋯ It was common to continue CPR during tracheal intubation, with success comparable to that achieved in patients without cardiac arrest. It is reasonable to attempt tracheal intubation without interrupting CPR, pausing only if necessary.
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To evaluate the impact of the 2015 European Resuscitation Council (ERC) guidelines on patient outcomes following traumatic cardiac arrest (TCA) and on advanced life support interventions carried out by physician-staffed ambulances. ⋯ Despite the increased frequency of trauma rescue interventions performed by on-scene physicians, no change in patient-centred outcomes was associated with the publication of the 2015 ERC guidelines in France.
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We aimed to use a high-fidelity computational model that captures key interactions between the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems to investigate whether current CPR protocols could potentially be improved. ⋯ Our results indicate that current CPR protocols could potentially be improved. Excessive ventilation could be detrimental to organ oxygenation during CPR, due to the negative haemodynamic effect of increased pulmonary vascular resistance. Particular attention should be given to the chest compression force to achieve satisfactory CO. Future clinical trials aimed at developing improved CPR protocols should explicitly consider interactions between chest compression and ventilation parameters.