Perioperative Cardiac Arrests

Perioperative cardiac arrests represent the most serious complication of anesthesia and surgery. It is believed that the incidence and mortality of cardiac arrest has declined, however, a more recent review questioned whether these rates have changed over the last 5 decades. It is difficult to compare the reports from different epochs, because medical prac-tice has advanced, surgical acuity increased, and patients in extremes of age undergo surgery today. In the present article we review the information regarding the incidence of perioperative cardiac arrests and predictors of survival covering the period since the first comprehensive report by Beecher and Todd in 1954. We focus on our publications that report periop-erative cardiac arrest at Mayo Clinic for adult noncardiac surgery, during regional anesthesia, and arrests in our pediatric surgical practice.  

anesthesia, cardiac arrest, mortality

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10. Morgan CA, Webb RK, Cockings J, Williamson JA. The Australian Incident Monitoring Study. Cardiac arrest-an analysis of 2000 incident reports. Anaesth Intensive Care 1993;21:626-37.

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14. Pollard JB. Cardiac arrest during spinal anesthesia: common mechanisms and strategies for prevention. Anesth Analg 2001;92:252-6.

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19. Sprung J, Warner ME, Contreras MG, Schroeder DR, Beighley CM, Wilson GA, et al. Predictors of survival following cardiac arrest in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery: a study of 518,294 patients at a tertiary referral center. Anesthesiology 2003;99:259-69.

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23. Kopp SL, Horlocker TT, Warner ME, Hebl JR, Vachon CA, Schroeder DR, et al. Cardiac arrest during neuraxial anesthesia: frequency and predisposing factors associated with survival. Anesth Analg 2005;100:855-65, table of contents.

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