Skip Navigation
Skip to contents

ACC : Acute and Critical Care

OPEN ACCESS
SEARCH
Search

Articles

Page Path
HOME > Acute Crit Care > Volume 26(2); 2011 > Article
Original Article Adequacy of Epinephrine Administration during Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support in terms of Dosing and Intervals between Doses
Seung Joon Lee, Byung Kook Lee, Kyung Woon Jeung, Hyoung Youn Lee, Tag Heo, Yong Il Min, Jong Geun Yun, Jae Hoon Lim

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4266/kjccm.2011.26.2.69
1Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Korea. neoneti@hanmail.net
2Department of Emergency Medical Technician, Dongkang College, Gwangju, Korea.
3Emergency Medical Center, Chonnam National University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
  • 2,375 Views
  • 26 Download
  • 1 Crossref
  • 0 Scopus

BACKGROUND
Consensus guidelines clearly define how epinephrine is administered during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). In South Korea, it is not known whether epinephrine is administered in accordance with the current advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS) guidelines during actual practice. We sought to investigate adherence to ACLS guidelines during actual CPR in terms of the dose of epinephrine and the interval between doses.
METHODS
A retrospective review of medical records was performed on 394 adult cardiac arrest patients who received CPR at an emergency room. Data including the duration of CPR, the dose of epinephrine, and the interval between doses was collected from CPR records.
RESULTS
Standard-dose epinephrine (1 mg) was used in 166 of 394 patients (42.1%). In 58.8% of patients, the average between-dose interval was within the 3-5 min recommended in the guidelines, whereas it was shorter than 3 min in 31.4% of patients. As a whole, epinephrine was administered in accordance with the current ACLS guidelines in only 96 of 394 patients (24.4%). Logistic regression analysis revealed the duration of CPR to be an independent factor affecting the use of standard-dose epinephrine and the adequate between-dose interval.
CONCLUSIONS
Epinephrine was not administered according to the ACLS guideline in most patients. A national multi-center study is required to determine whether the poor adherence to the ACLS guideline is a widespread problem. In addition, efforts to improve adherence to the ACLS guideline are required.


ACC : Acute and Critical Care