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E-CPR In Prolonged Resuscitation

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An identified concern with the use of E-CPR in prolonged resuscitation is the risk that survivors may suffer severe neurological deficits which will lead to an extended hospital stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) (Stub et al., 2015). Siao et al., (2015) used the Glasgow-Pittsburgh cerebral performance category (CPC) scale to evaluate neurological outcomes in their study. The study found at discharge, a good neurological outcome rate of 40% (n=8/20) in the E-CPR group compared to only 7.5% (n=3/40) in the C-CPR group, again favouring E-CPR over C-CPR. A major limitation of this study however, is that it is was a retrospective observational study rather than a randomized controlled trial, the authors did however rightfully acknowledge that …show more content…

Also, despite the expertise of the trained emergency team, this study had a significant complication rate of 69%. It is obvious that the use of ELS requires immense coordination to ensure that all of the right providers, equipment, and medications are rapidly available at the bedside of a patient in extremis (Johnson et al., 2014). This stresses the need for ongoing training for the team which should be take the form of “Ground Rounds” lectures, simulation sessions on ELS, and in-service training sessions for ED nurses discussing equipment and procedures (Johnson et al., 2014). Finally, no data exists on the monetary costs associated with the use of ELS for cardiac arrest, however, it is without a doubt that it is very costly mainly due to the fact that ELS is a highly technique-dependent invasive procedure and there are several risks associated. Further research is needed in the area of cost effectiveness. Again, despite the methodological issues and the above discussed concerns, the study provides evidence that it is feasible to implement ELS as a rescue strategy for refractory cardiac arrest in the …show more content…

Percutaneous coronary intervention was performed on 11 of the patients and pulmonary embolectomy on one patient. ROSC was achieved in 25 (96%) patients, 13 (54%) patients were successfully weaned, whilst 14 (54%) patients survived (comprising 9 out of the 15 [60%] patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest) and were discharged with full neurological recovery (Stub et. al., 2015). Similar to the study by Stub et al., (2015) another Australian study reported significantly greater rates of ROSC in E-CPR over C-CPR, 3/6 (50%) vs 0/6 (0%) (Stub et al.,

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