Background:
Prolonged conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (C-CPR) is associated with a poor prognosis in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients. Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (E-CPR) has been utilized as a rescue strategy for patients with cardiac arrest unresponsive to C-CPR. However, the indication and optimal duration to switch from C-CPR to E-CPR are not well established. In addition, the opportunities to develop teamwork skills and expertise to mitigate risks are few. We thus developed the implementation protocol for the E-CPR simulation program, and investigated whether the faster deployment of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) improves the neurological outcome in patients with refractory OHCA.
Methods:
A total of 42 consecutive patients (age 58±16 years, male ratio 90%, and initial shockable rhythm 64%) received E-CPR (3% of OHCA) during the study period. Among them, 32 (76%) were deployed ECMO during the pre-intervention time period (Pre: from January 2012 to September 2017), whereas 10 (24%) were deployed during the post-intervention time period (Post: October 2017 to May 2019). We compared the door to E-CPR time, collapse to E-CPR time, 30-day mortality, and favorable neurological outcome (Cerebral Performance Categories 1, 2) between the two periods.
Results:
There was no significant difference in age, the rates of male sex and shockable rhythm, and the time form collapse to emergency room admission between the two periods. The door to E-CPR time and the collapse to E-CPR time were significantly shorter in the post-intervention period compared to the pre-intervention period (Pre: 39 min [IQR; 30-50] vs. Post: 29 min [IQR; 22-31]; P=0.007, Pre: 76 min [IQR; 58-87] vs. Post: 59 min [IQR; 44-68]; P=0.02, respectively). The 30-day mortality was similar between the two periods (Pre: 88% vs. Post: 80%; P=0.6). In contrast, the rate of favorable neurological outcome at the time of discharge was significantly higher in post-intervention period (Pre: 0% vs. Post: 20%; P=0.01) compared to the pre-intervention period.
Conclusion:
A comprehensive simulation-based training for E-CPR seems to improve the neurological outcome in patients with refractory OHCA patients.