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Laparotomy following cardiopulmonary resuscitation after traumatic cardiac arrest: is it futile?

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Abstract

Purpose

The outcome of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) after traumatic cardiac arrest is very poor. Moreover, some consider laparotomy for abdominal trauma after CPR futile. This study aimed to investigate the outcomes of trauma patients who were pulseless and received CPR followed by laparotomy.

Method

We conducted a retrospective review of 28,255 trauma patients from our hospital from January 2009 to November 2017. Patient demographics, injury severity scores, duration of CPR, operative data, and mortality of patients with laparotomy after CPR were collected and analyzed.

Result

We identified 120 trauma patients (0.42%) who underwent CPR at admission. Twenty-three patients (0.08%) underwent laparotomy following CPR. Of these, 19 patients (82.6%) died after laparotomy. Of four survivors after laparotomy, three (13.0%) survived with a good neurologic outcome. One survivor required rehabilitation due to poor neurologic outcome. All patients had suffered a blunt injury.

Conclusion

The survival rate for laparotomy following CPR after traumatic cardiac arrest was very poor. However, laparotomy following CPR is not always futile.

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Funding

There are no sources of funding in our study.

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Author notes

  1. Wu Seong Kang

    Present address: Department of Trauma Surgery, Wonkwang University Hospital, Iksan, Korea

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Trauma Surgery, Department of Surgery, Chonnam National University Hospital and Medical School, 42, Jebong-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju, 61469, Korea

    Wu Seong Kang, Yun Chul Park & Young Goun Jo

Authors
  1. Wu Seong Kang
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  2. Yun Chul Park
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  3. Young Goun Jo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yun Chul Park.

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Conflict of interest

Wu Seong Kang, Yun Chul Park and Young Goun Jo declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Research involves human participants/animals

This research does not involve human participants and/or animals.

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Informed consent obtained from subjects.

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The work has been approved by the appropriate ethical committees related to the institution in which it was performed.

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Kang, W.S., Park, Y.C. & Jo, Y.G. Laparotomy following cardiopulmonary resuscitation after traumatic cardiac arrest: is it futile?. Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg 46, 657–661 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00068-019-01118-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00068-019-01118-0

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