ABSTRACT
To evaluate resuscitation efforts for patients with cardiac and/or pulmonary arrest in our hospital a retrospective study was conducted and compared with available data from other community teaching hospitals. Records of 131 consecutive patients of ages 16-98 who received resuscitation according to Advanced Cardiac Life Support protocols were reviewed. Short-term survival (return of spontaneous circulation) and discharge-from-the hospital survival were measured. Nineteen patients (15%) were excluded from the study because the information recorded on the code record sheet was insufficient. Overall short-term survival rate was 34.8%. Resuscitations in the Emergency Room were evaluated separately, because most of them were initiated outside of the hospital. Their short-term survival was 14%, but none of them survived to be discharged. Out of 69 inpatient resuscitative efforts, 33 were successful (47.8%). Of these 33 nine (13.0%) left the hospital. The rest expired during the same hospitalization. Short-term survival for patients after coronary artery bypass graft surgery was 60% (6 of 10) and 30% (3 of 10) were discharged home. Forty percent of official code records were incomplete. We concluded that better education and more emphasis on record-keeping are mandatory, with the main burden falling upon the nurse in charge to have received more precise instruction. Contrary to published data, women did not have a better survival than men (P > 0.05). There was no difference in outcomes between resident physician directed codes compared to attending physician directed codes (P > 0.05). The mean age of inpatient short-term survivors was 69.0 (+/- 13.2) years and that of non-survivors 69.8 (+/- 15.7) years (P > 0.05). Post-bypass surgery patients had a better survival than non-surgical patients, but the difference was significant (P > 0.05). Survival in our hospital was comparable to one hospital and worse than another (34.8% vs. 39.6% or 63.0%). Despite success, prognosis after arrest remain poor.
