Survey: Cardiac Arrest Following Cardiac Surgery

In 2005, the American Heart Association and the European Resuscitation Council published a new comprehensive guideline for the management of patients who suffered a cardiac arrest. The guidelines were derived from a worldwide consensus from the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation published that same year.

While the document provides significant advances in the resuscitation of out-of-hospital and ward-based patients, it does not address many of the issues that we face in cardiac surgery when a patient arrests shortly after surgery.

Issues such as the timing of chest reopening, CPR versus immediate defibrillation for VF, a 3-shock or a 1-shock protocol, Precordial thump, external pacing, administration of adrenaline in an arrest, sterility of chest reopenings, personnel, and training for cardiac arrests are unaddressed.

We would very much appreciate your input on these issues and encourage you to participate in a survey. The responses collected in the survey will be used in drafting a more comprehensive set of guidelines for resuscitation of patients who arrest after cardiac surgery. If you also provide your email address, we will provide you with a draft of the guidelines once the survey answers have been collated.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to complete this survey. Results will appear here soon.

Joel Dunning, MRCS, PhD
Specialist Registrar
Editor of Best Evidence Topics in the ICVTS, Course Director for Cardiothoracic Advanced Life Support (CALS) Editorial Board of the EJCTS
Middlesbrough TS4 3BW
United Kingdom
+44780 154 8122
www.csu-als.com