Epinephrine And Fibrillation: A Case Study

Introduction Vasopressors are common medications included in the treatment of cardiac arrest. Currently both epinephrine and vasopressin are being evaluated as significant treatments. The American Heart Association Guidelines have been adjusted to reflect these studies over the past 10 years. Within the Ventricular Fibrillation arm of the cardiac arrest algorithm (Link, 2015), step 6 directs for the administration of 1 mg epinephrine IV or IO every 3-5 minutes (See figure 1). The 2010 AHA guidelines allowed for the use of 40 units vasopressin as an option to replace the initial or second dose of epinephrine, but due to inadequate findings, the 2015 AHA guidelines have removed vasopressin from the treatment algorithm. The new guidelines also emphasize the use of low dose epinephrine over high dose except in certain conditions such as  blocker overdose (Link, 2015). Epinephrine has been used for over 100 years as an adjunct to cause α adrenergic effects including smooth muscle contraction and vasoconstriction. Epinephrine also has  adrenergic effects leading to positive chronotropic and …show more content…
While some solitary studies supported this hypothesis, the overall conglomeration of the studies shows inconclusive, insignificant results.
The American Heart Association is a large part of the future of these medications and analysis of their effectiveness and optimal use since protocols are updated every 5 years. This allows for continual monitoring and discretion of protocol adjustment as new information is found. The CARES database is also a major player in the advancement of cardiac arrest treatments, procedures, and protocols. The continued accumulation of data into one central database allows for a more thorough analysis of the data and situations in which these events