Impact of CPR Quality and Adherence to Advanced Cardiac Life Support Guidelines on Patient Outcomes in In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Objectives

To evaluate the association between patient survival of in-hospital cardiac arrest and 2 independent variables: adherence to resuscitation guidelines and patient severity of illness, as indicated by the number of organ supportive therapies in use before cardiac arrest.

Methods

An observational study was conducted using prospectively collected data from a convenience sample. Cardiopulmonary arrest forms and medical records were evaluated at an academic medical center. Adherence to resuscitation guidelines was measured with the ZOLL R Series monitor/defibrillator using RescueNet Code Review software. The primary outcome was patient survival.

Results

Of 200 cases, 37% of compressions were in the recommended range for rate (100-120/min) and 63.9% were in range for depth. The average rate was above target 55.7% of the time. The average depth was above and below target 1.4% and 34.7% of the time, respectively. Of the 200 patients, 125 (62.5%) attained return of spontaneous circulation. Of those, 94 (47%) were alive 24 hours after resuscitation. Fifty patients (25%) were discharged from the intensive care unit alive and 47 (23.5%) were discharged from the hospital alive.

Conclusions

These exploratory data reveal overall survival rates similar to those found in previous studies. The number of pauses greater than 10 seconds during resuscitation was the one consistent factor that impacted survival. Despite availability of an audiovisual feedback system, rescuers continue to perform compressions that are not at optimal rate and depth.