Treatment outcomes of epinephrine for traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Despite the standard guidelines stating that giving epinephrine for patients with cardiac arrest is recommended, the clinical benefits of epinephrine for patients with traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) are still limited. This study aims to evaluate the benefits of epinephrine administration in traumatic OHCA patients. Methods: We searched four electronic databases up to June 30, 2020, without any language restriction in research sources. Studies comparing epinephrine administration for traumatic OHCA patients were included. Two independent authors performed the selection of relevant studies, data extraction, and assessment of the risk of bias. The primary outcome was inhospital survival rate. Secondary outcomes included prehospital return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), short-term survival, and favorable neurological outcome. We calculated the odds ratios (ORs) of those outcomes using the Mantel-Haenszel model and assessed the heterogeneity using the I 2 statistic. Results: Four studies were included. The risk of bias of the included studies was low, except for one study in which the risk of bias was fair. All included studies reported the inhospital survival rate. Epinephrine administration during traumatic OHCA might not demonstrate a benefit for inhospital survival (OR: 0.61, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.11-3.37). Epinephrine showed no significant improvement in prehospital ROSC (OR: 4.67, 95% CI: 0.66-32.81). In addition, epinephrine might not increase the chance of short-term survival (OR: 1.41, 95% CI: 0.53-3.79). Conclusion: The use of epinephrine for traumatic OHCA may not improve either inhospital survival or prehospital ROSC and short-term survival. Epinephrine administration as indicated in standard advanced life support algorithms might not be routinely used in traumatic OHCA.