Outcomes of trauma victims with cardiac arrest who survive to intensive care unit admission in a level 1 Apex Indian trauma centre: A retrospective cohort study

Abstract

Background and aims: The prognosis of patients with cardiac arrest following trauma is poor. Our objectives were (1) to determine outcomes of patients following in-hospital cardiac arrest posttrauma and admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and (2) to identify characteristics associated with in-hospital mortality. Materials and methods: This was a single-center retrospective analysis of patients admitted to ICU after resuscitation following in-hospital cardiac arrest between January 2017 and July 2018. Patients with isolated head injuries and multiple cardiac arrests were excluded. Bivariate analysis was done to determine a significant association between baseline characteristics and in-hospital mortality. Results: A total of 37 patients were included. About 35.1% of trauma subjects survived hospital discharge. Bivariate analysis showed positive association between admission Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores with in-hospital mortality. Other characteristics, such as age, duration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and serum lactate levels on admission, were not associated with in-hospital mortality. Conclusion: Despite being at lower survival following a cardiac arrest after trauma, approximately one-third of the patients survived hospital discharge. This implies that aggressive support of this population is not necessarily futile. Optimizations of postresuscitation physiological factors and their impacts on outcomes for these patients need further studies.