[Drug therapy in cardiac arrest: an overview]

This article provides an overview of medications for managing cardiac arrest. While several vasopressor and antiarrhythmic drugs have proven effective in obtaining a return of spontaneous circulation, none improve survival with a favorable neurological outcome. To reduce morbidity and mortality following cardiac arrest, optimal management is critical in both the prehospital phase and after hospital admission, and requires a multimodal approach. Knowledge about drug therapies in the post-cardiac arrest phase, particularly regarding neuroprotection, remains very limited and is the subject of intense research.