BET 2: Usefulness of epinephrine in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

A short-cut review was carried out to establish whether prehospital adrenaline affects long-term morbidity or mortality after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Fifty-five papers were found using the reported search. Of these, three presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated. It is concluded that while epinephrine used as an adjunctive treatment during out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) may improve return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and survival to hospital, it does not improve survival to discharge or neurological outcome.