Abstract 146: Association of Epinephrine Prior to Defibrillation with Survival in Patients with In-hospital Cardiac Arrest

Background: Prompt defibrillation is a first line treatment for in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) due to a shockable rhythm, with epinephrine recommended only when defibrillation is ineffective. However, empirical data regarding epinephrine prior to first defibrillation for shockable IHCA and its association with survival are unavailable. Methods: Using 2000-2018 Get with the Guidelines Resuscitation data, we identified adults ( > 18 years) with an index IHCA due to an initial shockable rhythm. We conducted a time-dependent propensity-matched analysis to evaluate the association of epinephrine prior to first defibrillation with survival to discharge and acute resuscitation survival (i.e., return of spontaneous circulation for > 20 minutes). Results: Among 34,688 subjects, 10,057 (29.0%) received epinephrine before defibrillation. Median age was 67 years in both groups. Compared to defibrillation first, patients in the epinephrine first group were less likely to have myocardial infarction or heart failure, but more likely to have renal failure, sepsis and pneumonia, be located in an intensive care unit, and already receiving mechanical ventilation (P Conclusions: Despite a strong emphasis on prompt defibrillation in current guidelines, nearly 1 in 3 patients with IHCA due to a shockable rhythm received epinephrine prior to first defibrillation. Epinephrine before defibrillation was associated with worse survival outcomes. Although delays in defibrillation were more common in the early epinephrine group, early epinephrine remained associated with worse outcomes even in patients who received prompt defibrillation.