Abstract
Objective:
To review all episodes where an emergency code was called in a cancer-specialized hospital in Pakistan and to assess survival to discharge among patients who received a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
Methods:
We reviewed demographic and clinical data related to all “code blue” calls over 3 years. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to test the association of clinical characteristics with the primary outcome of survival to discharge.
Results:
A total of 646 code blue calls were included in the analysis. The CPR was performed in 388 (60%) of these calls. For every 20 episodes of CPR among patients with cancer of all ages, only 1 resulted in a patient’s survival to discharge, even though in 52.2% episodes there was a return of spontaneous circulation. No association was found between the type of rhythm at initiation of CPR and likelihood of survival to discharge.
Conclusions:
The proportion of patients with advanced cancer surviving to discharge after in-hospital CPR in a low-income country was in line with the reported international experience. Most patients with cancer who received in-hospital CPR did not survive to discharge and did not appear to benefit from resuscitation. Advance directives by patients with cancer limiting aggressive interventions at end of life and proper documentation of these directives will help in provision of care that is humane and consonant with patients’ wishes for a dignified death. Patients’ early appreciation of the limited benefits of CPR in advanced cancer is likely to help them formulate such advance directives.
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