Abstract 394: Epinephrine Administration Before Defibrillation in Children With an Initially Shockable In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Rhythm

Abstract

Background: Contrary to current guidelines, administration of epinephrine before first defibrillation for shockable in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) is common in adults and associated with lower survival. Whether these findings are also present in pediatric IHCA remains unknown. Methods: We used 2000-2020 data from the Get With the Guidelines®—Resuscitation registry to identify children (<18 years) with index IHCA due to an initial shockable rhythm of ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia and at least 1 defibrillation attempt. Study outcomes were event survival, defined as return of spontaneous circulation for > 20 minutes, survival to hospital discharge and favorable neurologic survival. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) using propensity scores was used to adjust for confounding . Results: Among 492 pediatric IHCA index events (median [IQR] age, 7 years [0.75 to 14 years]; 351 [71%] in the ICU), 142 (29%) children with an initial shockable rhythm received epinephrine before defibrillation. Subjects receiving epinephrine before defibrillation had longer times to defibrillation compared to those receiving defibrillation first (median [IQR]: 4 minutes [2 to 8] vs. 1 minute [0 to 2]). Rates of event survival (72.7% vs. 82.8%), survival to hospital discharge (36.4% vs. 47.9%), and favorable neurologic survival (18.9% vs. 33.1%) were lower in the epinephrine before defibrillation group, Table). However, in adjusted analyses using IPTW, epinephrine before defibrillation was not associated with survival outcomes (Table). Conclusions: Nearly one in three pediatric IHCA with initial shockable rhythm receives epinephrine before defibrillation in contrast with recommended guidelines. However, unlike adults with IHCA, we did not identify a clear association between epinephrine before defibrillation and survival.