[Emergency treatment for traumatic cardiac arrest: prognostic factors and hospital outcome]

To identify prehospital and on-arrival factors associated with hospital outcome in patients with traumatic cardiac arrest (TCA) discharged with recovered spontaneous circulation from the emergency department.

Multipurpose prospective cohort study of patients with TCA who recovered after treatment at a tertiary care hospital emergency department between 2003 and 2016. We gathered data on epidemiologic variables, type and cause of injuries, and prehospital and hospital emergency care. The outcome was overall hospital mortality.

A total of 130 TCA cases were included; 123 patients (94.6%) had received blunt trauma injuries and 65 (50%) had been in traffic accidents. The mean (SD) age was 39 (16) years, and 96 (73.8%) were male. Fifty patients (65%) were in asystole and 42 (32.3%) had pulseless electrical activity. Sixteen (12.3%) survived to be discharged; 13 of the survivors (81.3%) had recovered neurological activity. Factors that were independently associated with hospital mortality were asystole on arrival of first responders (odds ratio [OR], 25; 95% CI, 2.5-247; P=.006), nonreactive pupils on arrival at the hospital (OR, 13; 95% CI, 2.0-79; P=.006), and an Injury Severity Score over 25 (OR, 13; 95% CI, 1.8-94; P=.011).

Twelve percent of patients in this cohort survived to discharge after TCA and 8 out of 10 of the surviving patients recovered neurologically. Asystole at start of prehospital care, nonreactive pupils on hospital arrival, and a severity score over 25 may indicate poor prognosis after TCA.