ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Vasopressin has recently been recognized to have greater effect on improving blood flow to myocardium and brain during cardiac resuscitation than epinephrine and also improves rates of ROSC(return of spontaneous circulation) and survival in pre-hospital and in-hospital prolonged refractory cardiac angst patients who did not respond to the standard epinephrine treatment. This study was designed to investigate the effects of vasopressin on ROSC rates and survival rates in rat asphyxia arrest model. METHOD AND MATERIAL: Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were used. Anesthesia was induced with halothane and nitrous oxide and ventilatory cairo was maintained. EtCO2 was adjusted to 30-40mmHg and halothane was maintained. Right infernal carotid artery and right femoral vein were cannulated and EKG electrodes were attached. After 10 minutes of asphyxia, group 1 was treated with 1ml of saline, group 2 with 1ml(0.001mg/100g) of epinephrine and group 3 with 1ml(0.16u/100g) of vasopressin for resuscitation. Statistical significance was an analysed by SPSS with ANOVA and chi-square tests. RESULTS: No significant differences were seen in baseline measurements. Three ROSC and eight 60 minutes survivals were found in group 1, whereas nine ROSC and eight 60 minutes survivals were obtained in group 2 and all of the subjects in group 3 showed ROSC and 60 minutes survival, but no statistical differences were seen between group 2 and 3. CONCLUSION: Vasopressin seems to have similar effect on improving ROSC and survival rates compared to epinephrine in rat asphyxia models.