The Outcomes of Patients Following Cardiac Arrest At A Tertiary Hospital in Saudi Arabia

Abstract: In-hospital cardiac arrest is a critical and terminal event for some patients and a transient complication for many others. It is a stressful event for healthcare providers, patients, and family members. In 1960s, the effectiveness of closed chest compression was discovered (1, 2) and since then cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has been utilized as an effective intervention and became a standard for all hospitalized patients in cases of cardiac arrest. Objectives: The objective of our study is to measure the characteristics of in-hospital cardiac arrests at King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH) and to evaluate the outcome of those patients after the code and at 6 months. Patients and methods: Included in this study were all adult patients who sustained a cardiac arrest at KKUH between January 2012 and December 2013. The code forms were reviewed according to the Utstein style. Results: We identified 445 patients who had a total 628 cardiac arrests during the study period at KKUH. Out of the 445 patients 270 (60.7%) were males. The mean age was 57.8±19.7. The most common initial rhythm was asystole/ pulseless electrical activity in 37% of the codes. Return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) occurred in 178 (40%). Survival to hospital discharge occurred in 80 (18%) patients. Six months survival was documented in 55 (12.36%) of the original cohort. Conclusions: Return of spontaneous circulation happens after successful CPR but survival to hospital discharge remains poor after in hospital cardiac arrest. Providing patients and families with this crucial information can enable informed decisions regarding resuscitation. Keywords: Cardiac arrest, Utstein Style, ROSC and CPR. Title: The Outcomes of Patients Following Cardiac Arrest At A Tertiary Hospital in Saudi Arabia Author: Thamer Nouh, Sadeem Al-Dawas, Reem Al-Mansour, Hayfa Alabdulkarim, Bayan Alnooh, Amjad Al-shehri, Hadeel Al-Saif International Journal of Healthcare Sciences ISSN 2348-5728 (Online) Research Publish Journals

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