Blood Gas Analysis and Buffering In Cardiac Arrest
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2014-06-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The debate over the administration of sodium bicarbonate in cardiac arrest has been going on
for several decades, swinging like a pendulum from "first-line drug" to "not indicated" to
the recent guidelines advocating "a small bolus under special conditions (metabolic acidosis,
intoxication, long-term resuscitation)". A targeted, blood-gas controlled application under
optimised ventilation conditions has not yet been evaluated prehospitally. Our preliminary
studies have shown that an arterial puncture/line as well as measurement of blood gases is
feasible in preclinical conditions. This multicentre trial including 5 centres and 10
physician-staffed emergency systems is designed to compare, in a prospective randomised
controlled study, the effect of a calculated dosage of sodium bicarbonate based on the
patient´s base deficit and weight, on ROSC (= return of spontaneous circulation) and on the
secondary survival of cardiac arrest patients. The null hypothesis is that there is no or
negative impact on survival.