Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on cardiac arrest resuscitation practices and outcomes in non-COVID-19 patients

Sau Ki Tong; Lowell Ling; Jack Zhenhe Zhang; Florence H Y Yap; Kam Leung Law; Gavin M Joynt

doi:10.1186/s40560-021-00570-8

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on cardiac arrest resuscitation practices and outcomes in non-COVID-19 patients

J Intensive Care. 2021 Sep 10;9(1):55. doi: 10.1186/s40560-021-00570-8.

Authors

Sau Ki Tong¹, Lowell Ling², Jack Zhenhe Zhang³, Florence H Y Yap¹, Kam Leung Law⁴, Gavin M Joynt³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, 4/F Main Clinical Block and Trauma Centre, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China.
² Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. lowell.ling@cuhk.edu.hk.
³ Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
⁴ Accident and Emergency Department, North District Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Abstract

The effect of changes to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) procedures in response to Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) management and outcomes are unreported. In this multicenter retrospective study, we showed that median time to arrival of resuscitation team has increased and proportion of patients receiving first-responder CPR has lowered during this pandemic. IHCA during the pandemic was independently associated with lower return of spontaneous circulation OR 0.63 (95% CI 0.43-0.91), despite adjustment for lowered patient comorbidity and increased time to resuscitation team arrival. Changes to resuscitation practice in this pandemic had effects on IHCA outcomes, even in patients without COVID-19.

Keywords: 2019 Novel Coronavirus disease; Cardiac arrest; Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; Indicator; Outcome; Pandemic; Resuscitation team; Return of spontaneous circulation; Team.

Publication types

Letter