Abstract

PURPOSE
Trauma is one of the major cause of death in Korea. This study focused on the survival rate and the neurologic outcome for patients with traumatic cardiac arrest (CA) at one emergency center.
METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with traumatic CA who were seen at a regional emergency medical center from January 2010 to December 2011. From among major trauma patients at that medical center, adults older than 18 years of age who had CA were included in this study. CA included out-of-hospital CA with arrival at the Emergency Department (ED) within three hours and in-hospital CA. We checked the survival rate and the neurologic outcome.
RESULTS
A total of 61 patients were analyzed: 32 patients had return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), 6 patients survived to discharge (survival rate: 9.84%), and 4 were still alive 90 days after discharge. The Cerebral performance category (CPC) scores at 6 months after discharge showed 1 good and 5 poor in neurologic outcomes. Factors such as initial rhythm of CA, part with major injury, Revised Trauma Score (RTS) and pH, were significant for ROSC, survival, and neurologic outcome in patients with traumatic CA.
CONCLUSION
In this study, patients who had traumatic CA showed a 9.84% survival rate and a 1.64% good neurologic outcome. The results are poorer than those for CA caused by disease. Multi-center, prospective studies are needed.

• Keywords: TraumaCardiac arrestSurvival ratePrognosis