Neurologic outcome following pediatric resuscitation

This study reports the survival rate and short-term neurologic outcome of children who sustained cardiac arrests at Henrietta Egleston Hospital for Children, a pediatric teaching hospital. A commonly held belief in pediatric centers has been that children tolerate the insult of cardiac arrest better than adults. Cardiac arrest was defined as the need for external or internal cardiac compressions. Critical care nurses specially trained for this project collected the arrest data and performed the serial neurological exams. Results showed that despite a low overall survival rate, neurological outcome appears to be good after the arrest even in patients who expire prior to discharge. Major neurologic deficits, such as hemiplegia and severe developmental delay, do not occur. Nursing implications of the study, which is in its second year, are discussed.