Impact of system factors and modifiable ICU interventions on the outcome of cardio-pulmonary resuscitation in PICU

To assess the impact of system factors and modifiable interventions on outcome of cardiac arrest in a pediatric intensive care unit. Retrospective medical record review. Pediatric intensive care unit of a hospital in China. Children (age < 14 yrs) who had cardiac arrest within our PICU over a period of two years. Sixty-one of the 94 cardiac arrest events were successfully resuscitated. There was no significant association between personal and unit factors with immediate outcomes in our unit. The rate of unsuccessful resuscitation in sedated patients and those without sedation was 26% and 50%, respectively. Unsuccessful resuscitation occurred in 19% of patients who were on positive pressure ventilation as compared with 74% for those without positive pressure ventilation. Arrests which had resuscitation attempts that lasted more than 30 min had 135-fold higher odds of unsuccessful outcome. 78% of patients who received base supplement at the time of arrest had unsuccessful resuscitation compared with 21% for those without base supplement. Our data shows no impact of system factors on the outcome of cardio-pulmonary resuscitation in our PICU. Prearrest sedation in pediatric critical ill patients might be beneficial to the outcome of cardiac arrests.