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 practice 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 perioperative cardiac arrest at Mayo Clinic for adult noncardiac surgery, during regional anesthesia, and arrests in our pediatric surgical practice. JURAJ SPRUNG ( ) • RANDALL P. FLICK • STEPHEN J. GLEICH • TOBY N. WEINGARTEN Department of Anesthesiology College of Medicine Mayo Clinic 200 First Street SW, Rochester MN 55905, USA Phone: (507) 255-3298 Fax: (507) 255-6463 E-mail: [email protected] JURAJ SPRUNG • RANDALL P. FLICK • STEPHEN J. GLEICH • TOBY N. WEINGARTEN REVIEW SIGNA VITAE 2008; 3(2): 8 12