CT imaging in post-resuscitation care of non-traumatic resuscitation room patients in German hospitals

CT imaging in post-resuscitation care of non-traumatic resuscitation room patients in German hospitals

The procedures and locations where patients are admitted to hospitals and subsequently diagnosed after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in Germany exhibit considerable heterogeneity. Specifically, advanced imaging diagnostic methods via computed tomography (CT) show significant variation in both timing and execution. However, echocardiography (ECHO) is not an alternative to CT in this setting, as both modalities serve distinct diagnostic purposes. This study aimed to comprehensively analyze the status quo analysis of current procedures in German emergency departments (EDs) regarding early-phase (within the first six hours) CT imaging diagnostics after resuscitation and the treatment of critically ill patients in the ED resuscitation room.

Out of 994 hospitals contacted, 182 hospitals from 15 German federal states participated, yielding a response rate of 18.3%. The overall completion rate for the whole questionnaire was 12.2% (n = 121/994). In the survey, 9.6% (n = 15/157) of hospitals reported having CT within the resuscitation room, while 70.1% (n = 119/157) had CT within a range of 50 m of the resuscitation room. A standard operating procedure (SOP)/postresuscitation protocol for patients suffering from OHCA was available for 61.1% (n = 88 yes, n = 56 no) of the hospitals. A specific postresuscitation CT protocol (postrCT protocol) was used by 30.0% (n = 48 yes, n = 93 no) of the hospitals, with 59.2% (n = 29) receiving a head-to-pelvis CT (whole-body CT). In hospitals without a CT protocol (n = 84), echocardiography (82.1%, n = 69), abdominal ultrasound (61.9%, n = 52), and non-contrast CT of the head (47.6%, n = 40) are used for distinctive diagnostics. Cardiac Arrest Center (CAC)-certified hospitals were significantly more likely to have a SOP/postresuscitation protocol (91.9 vs. 49.0%, p < 0.001) and a specific postrCT protocol (63.2 vs. 22.1%, p < 0.001) than noncertified hospitals.

Akvile Juskeviciute, Milda Aleknonyte Resch, Bernhard Kumle, Hans Jörg Busch, Uwe Janssens, Guido Michels, Lars Roman Herda, Martin Faber, Sabine Merz, Michael Reindl, Christoph Wasser, Stefan Kornstaedt, Patrick Langguth, Kevin Schulte, Michael Bernhard, Martin Pin & Domagoj Schunk

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12873-025-01216-w

https://link.springer.com/journal/12873

15 april 2025

Fajar Bagus W

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