Adult Advanced Life Support: 2020 International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations.

This 2020 International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations for advanced life support includes updates on multiple advanced life support topics addressed with 3 different types of reviews. Topics were prioritized on the basis of both recent interest within the resuscitation community and the amount of new evidence available since any previous review. Systematic reviews addressed higher-priority topics, and included double-sequential defibrillation, intravenous versus intraosseous route for drug administration during cardiac arrest, point-of-care echocardiography for intra-arrest prognostication, cardiac arrest caused by pulmonary embolism, postresuscitation oxygenation and ventilation, prophylactic antibiotics after resuscitation, postresuscitation seizure prophylaxis and treatment, and neuroprognostication. New or updated treatment recommendations on these topics are presented. Scoping reviews were conducted for anticipatory charging and monitoring of physiological parameters during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Topics for which systematic reviews and new Consensuses on Science With Treatment Recommendations were completed since 2015 are also summarized here. All remaining topics reviewed were addressed with evidence updates to identify any new evidence and to help determine which topics should be the highest priority for systematic reviews in the next 1 to 2 years.

InsulinAPP application protocol for the inpatient management of type 2 diabetes on a hospitalist-managed ward: a retrospective study.

Introduction: We assessed metrics related to inpatient glycemic control using InsulinAPP, an application available for free in Brazil, on the hospitalist-managed ward of our hospital. Subjects and methods: We performed a retrospective study of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) admitted from November 2018 to October 2019. InsulinAPP recommends NPH and regular insulins three times a day, in bolus-correction or basal-bolus schemes. Parameters that included BG within range of 70-180 mg/dL, insulin treatment regimen and frequency of hypoglycemia were evaluated. Results: A total of 147 T2D individuals (23% medicine and 77% surgery) were included (mean age 62.3 ± 12.7 years, HbA1c: 8.3 ± 3.0%). The initial insulin regimen was 50% bolus-correction, 47% basal-bolus and 3% with sliding scale insulin. During hospitalization, 71% patients required a bolus-basal regimen. In the first 10 days of the protocol, 71% BG measurements were between 70-180 mg/dL and 26% patients experienced one or more episodes of hypoglycemia < 70 mg/dL, and 5% with BG < 54 mg/dL. Conclusion: The results of this retrospective study indicate the InsulinAPP application using human insulin formulations was effective and safe for the management of hyperglycemia on a hospitalist-managed ward, with more than 70% BG measurements within the therapeutic range and a low rate of hypoglycemia.

Discrepancies Between Clinical and Autopsy Diagnoses in Rapid Response Team-Assisted Patients: What Are We Missing?

OBJECTIVES: The rapid response team (RRT) assists hospitalized patients with sudden clinical deterioration. There is scarce evidence of diagnostic accuracy in this scenario, but it is possible that a considerable rate of misdiagnosis exists. Autopsy remains a valuable tool for assessing such question. This study aimed to compare clinical (premortem) and autopsy (postmortem) diagnoses in patients assisted by the RRT and describe major discrepancies. METHODS: We reviewed 104 clinical data and autopsies from patients assisted by the RRT during a cardiac arrest event in a tertiary care hospital in Brazil. Clinical and autopsy diagnostic discrepancies were classified using the Goldman criteria. Other clinical and pathological data were described, and the group with major diagnostic discrepancies was further analyzed. RESULTS: We found 39 (37.5%) patients with major diagnostic discrepancies. Most frequent immediate causes of death in this group determined by autopsy were sepsis (36%), pulmonary embolism (23%) and hemorrhagic shock (21%). Pulmonary embolism was the cause of death significantly more frequent in the major discrepancy group than in the minor discrepancy group (23% versus 3%, P = 0.002). We individually described all major diagnostic discrepancies. CONCLUSIONS: We found a high rate (37.5%) of major misdiagnosis in autopsies from patients assisted by the RRT in a tertiary teaching hospital. Pulmonary embolism was the most inaccurate fatal diagnosis detected by autopsy.

Adult Advanced Life Support: 2020 International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science with Treatment Recommendations.

This 2020 International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations for advanced life support includes updates on multiple advanced life support topics addressed with 3 different types of reviews. Topics were prioritized on the basis of both recent interest within the resuscitation community and the amount of new evidence available since any previous review. Systematic reviews addressed higher-priority topics, and included double-sequential defibrillation, intravenous versus intraosseous route for drug administration during cardiac arrest, point-of-care echocardiography for intra-arrest prognostication, cardiac arrest caused by pulmonary embolism, postresuscitation oxygenation and ventilation, prophylactic antibiotics after resuscitation, postresuscitation seizure prophylaxis and treatment, and neuroprognostication. New or updated treatment recommendations on these topics are presented. Scoping reviews were conducted for anticipatory charging and monitoring of physiological parameters during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Topics for which systematic reviews and new Consensuses on Science With Treatment Recommendations were completed since 2015 are also summarized here. All remaining topics reviewed were addressed with evidence updates to identify any new evidence and to help determine which topics should be the highest priority for systematic reviews in the next 1 to 2 years.

Results of a venous thromboembolism prophylaxis program for hospitalized patients.

INTRODUCTION: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the leading cause of preventable death in hospitalized patients. However, existing prophylaxis guidelines are rarely followed. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to present and discuss implementation strategies and the results of a VTE prophylaxis program for medical and surgical patients admitted to a large general hospital. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This prospective observational study was conducted to describe the strategy used to implement a VTE prophylaxis program in hospitalized medical and surgical patients and to analyze the results in terms of the risk assessment rate within the first 24 hours after admission, adequacy of the prophylaxis prescription, and prevalence of VTE in the discharge records before and after program implementation. We used the Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test for the linear trend of the data analysis and set the significance level to P<0.05. RESULTS: With the support of an institutional VTE prophylaxis committee, a multiple-strategy approach was used in the implementation of the protocol, which included continuing education, complete data recording using computerized systems, and continuous auditing of and feedback to the medical staff and multidisciplinary teams. Approximately 90% of patients were evaluated within the first 24 hours after admission, and no significant difference in this percentage was observed among the years analyzed. A progressive increase in adherence to protocol recommendations, from 63.8% in 2010 to 75.0% in 2014 (P<0.001), was noted. The prevalence of symptomatic VTE in the discharge records of patients decreased from 2.03% in 2009 to 1.69% in 2014 (P=0.033). CONCLUSION: The implementation of a VTE prophylaxis program targeting adult patients admitted to a large hospital employing a multiple-strategy approach achieved high rates of risk assessment within 24 hours of admission, improved the adherence to prophylaxis recommendations in high-risk patients, and reduced the rate of VTE events in the discharge records.

Preliminary in-hospital experience with a fully automatic external cardioverter-defibrillator.

BACKGROUND: Ventricular fibrillation (VF) and ventricular tachycardia (VT) are frequently present as initial rhythms during in-hospital cardiac arrest. Although ample evidence exists to support the need for rapid defibrillation, the response to in-hospital cardiac arrest remains without major advances in recent years. The delay between the arrhythmic event and intervention is still a challenge for clinical practice. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the performance and safety of in-hospital use of a programmable, fully automatic external cardioverter-defibrillator (AECD). METHODS: We conducted a prospective study at the Emergency Department of a university hospital. A total of 55 patients considered to be at risk of sustained VT/VF were included. Patients underwent monitoring of their cardiac rhythm by the AECD. Upon detection of a ventricular tachyarrhythmia, the AECD was programmed to automatically deliver shock therapy. RESULTS: We recorded 19 episodes of VT/VF in 3 patients. The median time between the beginning of the arrhythmia and the first defibrillation was 33.4 s (21-65 s). One episode of spontaneous reversion of VT was documented 20 s after its origin and shock therapy was aborted. The defibrillation success was 94.4% (17/18) for the first shock and 100% (1/1) for the second shock. No case of inappropriate shock discharge was registered during the study period. CONCLUSION: The AECD has the feasibility to combine long-term monitoring with automatic defibrillation safely and effectively. It presents the possibility of providing rapid identification of, and response to, in-hospital ventricular tachyarrhythmias.

Disseminating cardiopulmonary resuscitation training by distributing 9,200 personal manikins.

OBJECTIVES: Community members should be trained so that witnesses of cardiac arrests are able to trigger the emergency system and perform adequate resuscitation. In this study, the authors evaluated the results of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training of communities in four Brazilian cities, using personal resuscitation manikins. METHODS: In total, 9,200 manikins were distributed in Apucarana, Itanhaém, Maringá, and São Carlos, which are cities where the populations range from 80,000 to 325,000 inhabitants. Elementary and secondary school teachers were trained on how to identify a cardiac arrest, trigger the emergency system, and perform chest compressions. The teachers were to transfer the training to their students, who would then train their families and friends. RESULTS: In total, 49,131 individuals were trained (6.7% of the population), but the original strategy of using teachers and students as multipliers was responsible for only 27.9% of the training. A total of 508 teachers were trained, and only 88 (17.3%) transferred the training to the students. Furthermore, the students have trained only 45 individuals of the population. In Maringá and São Carlos, the strategy was changed and professionals in the primary health care system were prepared and used as multipliers. This strategy proved extremely effective, especially in Maringá, where 39,041 individuals were trained (79.5% of the total number of trainings). Community health care providers were more effective in passing the training to students than the teachers (odds ratio [OR] = 7.12; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.74 to 10.69; p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Instruction of CPR using personal manikins by professionals in the primary health care system seems to be a more efficient strategy for training the community than creating a training network in the schools.