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ALS 3207 Volume Therapy for Cardiac Arrest: TF SR

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ILCOR staff

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This CoSTR is a draft version prepared by ILCOR, with the purpose to allow the public to comment and is labeled “Draft for Public Comment". The comments will be considered by ILCOR. The next version will be labelled “draft" to comply with copyright rules of journals. The final COSTR will be published on this website once a summary article has been published in a scientific Journal and labeled as “final”.

Conflict of Interest Declaration

The ILCOR Continuous Evidence Evaluation process is guided by a rigorous ILCOR Conflict of Interest policy. The following Task Force members and other authors were recused from the discussion as they declared a conflict of interest: none

The following Task Force members and other authors declared an intellectual conflict of interest, and this was acknowledged and managed by the Task Force Chairs and Conflict of Interest committees: none

CoSTR Citation

Wittig J, Ohshimo S, Aneman A, Leong C, Neil BO, Woon CY, Ek JE, Paal P, Andersen LW, Jessen MK, Granfeldt A, Holmberg MJ on behalf of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation Advanced Life Support Task Force. Volume Therapy For Cardiac Arrest Consensus on Science With Treatment Recommendations: International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) Advanced Life Support Task Force, 2026. Available from: http://ilcor.org

Methodological Preamble and Link to Published Systematic Review

The continuous evidence evaluation process for the production of Consensus on Science with Treatment Recommendations (CoSTR) started with a systematic review of volume therapy for cardiac arrest (Holmberg MJ 2025 – PROSPERO CRD420251055283) conducted by a systematic review team with involvement of clinical content experts from the ILCOR Advanced Life Support Task Force.

Systematic Review

Wittig J, Ohshimo S, Aneman A, Leong C, Neil BO, Woon CY, Ek JE, Paal P, Andersen LW, Jessen MK, Granfeldt A, Holmberg MJ on behalf of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation Advanced Life Support Task Force. Volume Therapy For Cardiac Arrest: A Systematic Review. [In Preparation]

PICOSTs

The PICOSTs (Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome, Study Designs and Timeframe)

1) Non-traumatic intra-cardiac arrest

Population: Adults with non-traumatic cardiac arrest in any setting.

Intervention: Intravascular volume therapy during cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Comparators: No intravascular volume therapy or a different intravascular volume therapy during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (a different type, volume, or timing).

Outcomes: Any clinical outcome.

2) Traumatic intra-cardiac arrest

Population: Adults with traumatic cardiac arrest in any setting.

Intervention: Intravascular volume therapy during cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Comparators: No intravascular volume therapy or a different intravascular volume therapy during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (a different type, volume, or timing).

Outcomes: Any clinical outcome.

3) Post-cardiac arrest

Population: Adults with cardiac arrest from any cause in any setting.

Intervention: Intravascular volume therapy after return of spontaneous circulation.

Comparators: No intravascular volume therapy or a different intravascular volume therapy after return of spontaneous circulation (a different type, volume, or timing).

Outcomes: Any clinical outcome.

Clinical outcomes: For all PICOSTs, outcomes included, but were not limited to, return of spontaneous circulation, survival, survival with favorable neurological outcome, and health-related quality of life at any time point. For post-cardiac arrest studies, we also considered outcomes related to organ support, such as the need for vasopressors, mechanical ventilation, or renal replacement therapy, as well as intensive care unit or hospital length of stay. Studies assessing cost-effectiveness were included for a descriptive summary.

Study Designs: Randomized controlled trials and non-randomized studies (non-randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, and case-control studies) were included. Animal studies, reviews, abstracts only, conference proceedings, letters, editorials, commentaries, unpublished trials, case reports, and case series (generally defined as less than 10 non-consecutive patients) were not included. All relevant publications in any language were included as long as there was an English abstract or full text available.

Timeframe: All years.

PROSPERO Registration CRD420251055283

Risk of bias in randomized controlled trials was assessed using version 2 of the Cochrane Risk-of-Bias tool for individually randomized parallel-group trials. Risk of bias in non-randomized studies was assessed using the ROBINS-I tool for observational studies. Risk of bias was assessed for each outcome within a study but is reported at the study level as the highest risk of bias score across all outcomes. In most studies, the risk of bias was the same across all outcomes. If the bias was different depending on the outcome, this was noted.

Consensus on Science

The systematic search identified 6646 unique records of which 114 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility. Fifty-eight manuscripts representing 14 randomized trials and 44 observational studies were included. When grouped by PICOST question, 11 studies addressed non-traumatic intra-arrest volume therapy (5 trials and 6 observational studies), 15 studies addressed traumatic intra-arrest volume therapy (1 trial and 14 observational studies), and 25 studies addressed post-arrest volume therapy (8 trials and 17 observational studies). An additional 5 observational studies addressed more than one PICOST question and 2 observational studies addressed volume therapy in pediatric patients. No cost-effectiveness studies were identified. The search for the systematic review included studies in both adults and children. Only adult evidence was considered for this CoSTR. The studies in pediatric patients are discussed separately in the Pediatric Life Support CoSTR.

Non-traumatic intra-cardiac arrest

RCT evidence

Prehospital hypertonic saline with hydroxyethyl starch (HES) vs HES alone

For the critical outcome of favorable neurological outcome at hospital discharge, we identified very low-certainty evidence (downgraded for risk of bias and imprecision) from 1 RCT (Breil et al., 2012) enrolling 203 adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which showed no difference in outcomes with prehospital use of hypertonic saline with hydroxyethyl starch (7.2% NaCl with 6% HES 200,000/0.5) compared with hydroxyethyl starch (6% HES 200,000/0.5) alone (RR, 2.69; 95% CI, 0.99 to 7.24; 82 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 0 fewer to 303 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention]).

For the critical outcome of survival to hospital discharge, we identified low-certainty evidence (downgraded for risk of bias and imprecision) from 1 RCT (Breil et al., 2012) enrolling 203 adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which showed no difference in outcomes with prehospital use of hypertonic saline plus hydroxyethyl starch (7.2% NaCl with 6% HES 200,000/0.5) compared with hydroxyethyl starch (6% HES 200,000/0.5) alone (RR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.59 to 1.65; 2 fewer patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 92 fewer to 145 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention]).

For the important outcome of survival to hospital admission, we identified low-certainty evidence (downgraded for risk of bias and imprecision) from 2 RCTs (Bender et al., 2007; Breil et al., 2012) enrolling 269 adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which showed no difference in outcomes with prehospital use of hypertonic saline plus hydroxyethyl starch (7.2% NaCl with 6% HES 200,000/0.5) compared with hydroxyethyl starch (6% HES 200,000/0.5) alone (RR, 1.14; 95% CI, 0.89 to 1.46; 64 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 50 fewer to 210 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention]).

No adverse events relevant to the PICOST question were reported in these RCTs.

Prehospital infusion of cold normal saline vs standard care

For the critical outcome of favorable neurological outcome at hospital discharge, we identified very low-certainty evidence (downgraded for risk of bias, indirectness, and imprecision) from 2 RCTs (Bernard et al., 2016; Debaty et al., 2014) enrolling 1443 adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which showed no difference in outcomes with prehospital infusion of cold normal saline compared with standard care (RR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.72 to 1.35; 2 fewer patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 27 fewer to 33 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention]).

For the critical outcome of survival at one year, we identified very low-certainty evidence (downgraded for risk of bias, indirectness, and imprecision) from 1 RCT (Debaty et al., 2014) enrolling 245 adults non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which showed no difference in outcomes with prehospital infusion of cold normal saline compared with standard care (RR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.29 to 3.34; 0 fewer patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 29 fewer to 96 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention]).

For the critical outcome of survival to hospital discharge, we identified very low-certainty evidence (downgraded for risk of bias, indirectness, and imprecision) from 2 RCTs (Bernard et al., 2016; Debaty et al., 2014) enrolling 1443 adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which showed no difference in outcomes with prehospital infusion of cold normal saline compared with standard care (RR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.68 to 1.27; 7 fewer patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 32 fewer to 27 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention]).

For the important outcome of return of spontaneous circulation, we identified very low-certainty evidence (downgraded for risk of bias, indirectness, and imprecision) from 2 RCTs (Bernard et al., 2016; Debaty et al., 2014) enrolling 1443 adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which showed no difference in outcomes with prehospital infusion of cold normal saline compared with standard care (RR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.78 to 1.03; 41 fewer patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 82 fewer to 11 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention]).

Subgroup analyses of 2 RCTs (Bernard et al., 2016; Debaty et al., 2014) stratified by initial rhythm showed no significant difference in treatment effect between shockable and non-shockable rhythms for survival to hospital discharge (test for subgroup differences, P = 0.33).

For adverse events, 1 RCT (Bernard et al., 2016) reported higher rates of pulmonary edema with prehospital infusion of cold normal saline compared with standard care (62/207 [10%] vs 26/227 [4.5%]; P < 0.05), whereas 1 RCT (Debaty et al., 2014) reported no difference (7/41 [17%] vs 8/36 [22%]; P = 0.59).

Observational evidence

The 6 observational studies (Freese et al., 2019; Garrett et al., 2011; Hagihara et al., 2013; Hahn et al., 2014; Nongchang et al., 2017; Rinzin et al., 2025) addressing non-traumatic intra-arrest volume therapy were all at serious or critical risk of bias. Results were inconsistent, with studies suggesting benefit, harm, or no difference associated with volume therapy.

Traumatic intra-cardiac arrest

RCT evidence

Prehospital blood products vs crystalloids

For the critical composite outcome of in-hospital mortality or impaired lactate clearance, we identified very low-certainty evidence (downgraded for risk of bias and imprecision) from 1 RCT (Crombie et al., 2022) enrolling 409 adults with hemorrhagic shock in the out-of-hospital setting, which showed no difference in outcomes with prehospital packed red blood cells plus lyophilized plasma compared with normal saline administration (RR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.88 to 1.17; 6 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 78 fewer to 110 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention]). In a subgroup of 41 cardiac arrests, there was no difference in outcomes between the groups (20/21 [95%] and 20/20 [100%], respectively; test for subgroup differences, P = 0.32).

No adverse events were reported specifically for the cardiac arrest subgroup in this trial.

Observational evidence

The 14 observational studies (Benhamed et al., 2022; Braverman et al., 2021; Erblich et al., 2025; Grmec et al., 2008; Hosomi et al., 2022; Huabbangyang et al., 2022; Huang et al., 2025; Huber-Wagner et al., 2007; Kim et al., 2024; Laksanamapune et al., 2025a; Laksanamapune et al., 2025b; Leis et al., 2013; Midez et al., 2025; Wolthers et al., 2024) addressing traumatic intra-arrest volume therapy were all at serious or critical risk of bias. Most studies found a benefit or no significant association between prehospital fluid therapy (crystalloids or colloids) and survival in traumatic cardiac arrest, with studies of blood product administration showing mixed results.

Post-cardiac arrest

RCT evidence

Prehospital infusion of cold crystalloids vs standard care

For the critical outcome of favorable neurological outcome at hospital discharge, we identified very low-certainty evidence (downgraded for risk of bias, indirectness, and imprecision) from 5 RCTs (Bernard et al., 2012; Bernard et al., 2010; Kim et al., 2014; Kämäräinen et al., 2009; Scales et al., 2017) enrolling 2358 adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which showed no difference in outcomes with prehospital infusion of cold crystalloids compared with standard care (RR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.87 to 1.10; 7 fewer patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 42 fewer to 33 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention]).

Subgroup analyses of 2 RCTs (Bernard et al., 2010; Kim et al., 2014) enrolling 812 adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and shockable rhythms, showed no difference in favorable neurological outcome at hospital discharge with prehospital infusion of cold crystalloids compared with standard care (RR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.82 to 1.04; 42 fewer patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 107 fewer to 24 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention].

Subgroup analyses of 2 RCTs (Bernard et al., 2012; Kim et al., 2014) enrolling 935 adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and non-shockable rhythms, showed no difference in favorable neurological outcome at hospital discharge with prehospital infusion of cold crystalloids compared with standard care (RR, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.80 to 1.54; 14 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 25 fewer to 68 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention].

For the critical outcome of survival to hospital discharge, we identified low-certainty evidence (downgraded for risk of bias and indirectness) from 6 RCTs (Bernard et al., 2012; Bernard et al., 2010; Kim et al., 2014; Kim et al., 2007; Kämäräinen et al., 2009; Scales et al., 2017) enrolling 2500 adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which showed no difference in outcomes with prehospital infusion of cold crystalloids compared with standard care (RR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.90 to 1.11; 0 fewer patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 35 fewer to 39 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention]).

Subgroup analyses of 4 RCTs (Bernard et al., 2010; Kim et al., 2014; Kämäräinen et al., 2009; Scales et al., 2017) enrolling 1126 adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and shockable rhythms, showed no difference in survival to hospital discharge with prehospital infusion of cold crystalloids compared with standard care (RR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.89 to 1.18; 18 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 65 fewer to 106 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention]).

Subgroup analyses of 4 RCTs (Bernard et al., 2012; Kim et al., 2014; Kämäräinen et al., 2009; Scales et al., 2017) enrolling 1335 adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and non-shockable rhythms, showed no difference in survival to hospital discharge with prehospital infusion of cold crystalloids compared with standard care (RR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.51 to 1.52; 18 fewer patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 74 fewer to 79 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention]).

Subgroup analyses of 5 RCTs (Bernard et al., 2012; Bernard et al., 2010; Kim et al., 2014; Kämäräinen et al., 2009; Scales et al., 2017) stratified by fluid type showed no significant difference in overall treatment effect between cold normal saline and cold Ringer’s solution (test for subgroup differences, P = 0.47 for survival to hospital discharge and P = 0.61 for favorable neurological outcome at hospital discharge).

For adverse events, 1 RCT (Kim et al., 2014) reported higher rates of pulmonary edema (256/631 [41%] vs 184/609 [30%]; P < 0.001) and re-arrest (176/686 [26%] vs 138/671 [21%]; P = 0.008) with prehospital infusion of cold normal saline compared to standard care, whereas 1 RCT (Scales et al., 2017) reported lower rates of pulmonary edema (33/279 [12%] vs 54/303 [18%], P = 0.04). The other trials reported no differences in these or other adverse events.

In-hospital balanced crystalloids vs normal saline

For the critical outcome of favorable neurological outcome at 6 months, we identified low-certainty evidence (downgraded for risk of bias and imprecision) from 1 RCT (Woo et al., 2023) enrolling 364 adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which showed no difference in outcomes with in-hospital use of balanced crystalloids (PlasmaLyte A) compared with normal saline for 24 hours after admission (RR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.54 to 1.59; 9 fewer patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 60 fewer to 77 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention]).

For the critical outcome of favorable neurological outcome at hospital discharge, we identified low-certainty evidence (downgraded for risk of bias and imprecision) from 1 RCT (Woo et al., 2023) enrolling 364 adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which showed no difference in outcomes with in-hospital use of balanced crystalloids (PlasmaLyte A) compared with normal saline for 24 hours after admission (RR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.60 to 1.71; 1 fewer patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 52 fewer to 93 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention]).

For the critical outcome of survival at 6 months, we identified low-certainty evidence (downgraded for risk of bias and imprecision) from 1 RCT (Woo et al., 2023) enrolling 364 adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which showed no difference in outcomes with in-hospital use of balanced crystalloids (PlasmaLyte A) compared with normal saline for 24 hours after admission (RR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.50 to 1.39; 26 fewer patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 77 fewer to 60 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention]).

For the critical outcome of survival to hospital discharge, we identified low-certainty evidence (downgraded for risk of bias and imprecision) from 1 RCT (Woo et al., 2023) enrolling 364 adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which showed no difference in outcomes with in-hospital use of balanced crystalloids (PlasmaLyte A) compared with normal saline for 24 hours after admission (RR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.64 to 1.71; 7 fewer patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 53 fewer to 105 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention]).

For adverse events, 1 RCT (Woo et al., 2023) reported no difference in the development of acute kidney injury (11/27 [41%] vs 7/26 [27%]; P = 0.29) or major adverse kidney events within 30 days (14/27 [52%] vs 7/26 [27%]; P = 0.06).

In-hospital hypertonic saline with hydroxyethyl starch (HES) vs crystalloids

For the critical outcome of survival at 1 year, we identified very low-certainty evidence (downgraded for risk of bias and imprecision) from 1 RCT (Heradstveit et al., 2010) enrolling 19 adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which showed no difference in outcomes with in-hospital use of hypertonic saline with hydroxyethyl starch (7.2% NaCl with 6% HES 200,000/0.5) compared with crystalloids for 24 hours after admission (RR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.64 to 1.64; 23 fewer patients/1000 survived with the intervention [95% CI, 280 fewer to 498 more patients/1000 survived with the intervention]).

No adverse events relevant to the PICOST question were reported in this trial.

Observational evidence

The 17 observational studies (Adler et al., 2013; Duranceau and Mayette, 2018; Gmeiner et al., 2023; Granja et al., 2011; Gul et al., 2021; Hammer et al., 2009; Holm et al., 2020; Janiczek et al., 2016; Jentzer et al., 2021; Ko et al., 2019; Renaudier et al., 2025; Skulec et al., 2010; Staudacher et al., 2017; Suppogu et al., 2018; Taira et al., 2025; Toy et al., 2024; Wang et al., 2013) addressing post-arrest volume therapy were all at serious or critical risk of bias. Studies generally found no consistent association between volume therapy and outcomes.

Treatment Recommendations

We suggest against the routine use of intravascular volume therapy during cardiopulmonary resuscitation in patients with undifferentiated non-traumatic cardiac arrest (weak recommendation, very low-certainty evidence).

We recommend against the use of hydroxyethyl starch solutions during cardiopulmonary resuscitation or after return of spontaneous circulation (strong recommendation, very low-certainty evidence).

If clinical circumstances indicate that the patient was hypovolemic prior to the cardiac arrest, volume therapy may be reasonable (Good Practice Statement).

There is insufficient direct evidence to recommend for or against the use of specific volume therapies immediately after return of spontaneous circulation in patients with undifferentiated non-traumatic cardiac arrest.

There is insufficient direct evidence to recommend for or against the routine use of specific volume therapies during cardiopulmonary resuscitation in patients with traumatic cardiac arrest.

Justification and Evidence to Decision Framework Highlights

This topic was prioritized by the ILCOR Advanced Life Support Task Force due to evolving evidence on fluid resuscitation. The previous 2005 and 2010 recommendation stated there was insufficient evidence to recommend for or against routine intravenous fluids during cardiac arrest.

The systematic review identified 14 randomized trials and 44 observational studies evaluating volume therapy across non-traumatic intra-arrest, traumatic intra-arrest, and post-arrest settings. The task force agreed that the available evidence, while expanded since 2010, remained of low to very low certainty, mainly due to risk of bias, indirectness, and imprecision of the pooled results. The identified observational studies were all at a serious to critical risk of bias and evaluated highly heterogeneous populations and interventions, precluding any meaningful meta-analysis.

The suggestion against the routine use of intravascular volume therapy during cardiopulmonary resuscitation in patients with undifferentiated non-traumatic cardiac arrest is based on several factors. First, there are physiological concerns that fluid boluses during chest compressions may increase right atrial pressure, impair venous return, and consequently reduce coronary perfusion pressure (Ditchey and Lindenfeld, 1984; Gentile et al., 1991; Voorhees et al., 1987). Second, the systematic review identified no randomized trials that directly evaluated routine volume therapy versus no volume therapy as a resuscitation strategy. The trials that were identified evaluated specific interventions, such as hypertonic saline with hydroxyethyl starch or rapid infusion of ice-cold crystalloids during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Two of the trials of ice-cold crystalloid infusion, which were designed to induce therapeutic hypothermia rather than volume resuscitation, showed increased rates of pulmonary edema and re-arrest without improving survival or neurological outcomes. However, the interpretation of these trials was limited by the control group often receiving ambient temperature fluids in addition to ice-cold crystalloids (reported as 1380 [standard deviation: 773] mL vs 1022 [standard deviation: 752] mL in one trial) (Debaty et al., 2014). This recommendation does not preclude the use of small fluid boluses or slow infusions for the purpose of medication administration.

For post-arrest care, there is insufficient evidence to recommend for or against specific volume therapies. The trials evaluating rapid infusion of ice-cold crystalloids post-arrest had similar limitations as described for trials in the non-traumatic intra-arrest setting. Regarding the choice of volume therapy, a single small trial comparing balanced to isotonic crystalloids post-arrest showed no difference in clinical outcomes (Woo et al., 2023). Normal saline causes hyperchloremic acidosis and may be associated with increased risk of acute kidney injury in critically ill patients compared to balanced crystalloids. However, this evidence is not specific to cardiac arrest, and concerns have been raised about the lower tonicity of balanced fluids, which could potentially worsen cerebral edema (Hirsch et al., 2024; Zampieri et al., 2024). Given the lack of direct evidence in cardiac arrest, no recommendation for a specific volume therapy could be made, and practitioners should follow local critical care guidelines for fluid management (Arabi et al., 2024).

The direct evidence for hypertonic solutions is limited to small trials comparing hypertonic saline plus hydroxyethyl starch to hydroxyethyl starch alone showing no clear benefit (Bender et al., 2007; Breil et al., 2012; Heradstveit et al., 2010). Hydroxyethyl starch solutions, regardless of their formulation (such as Hespan, HAES-steril, and Voluven), have been withdrawn from or heavily restricted in most countries because of an increased risk of coagulopathy, acute kidney injury, and mortality in multiple large trials of critically ill patients (Evans et al., 2021). These well-established harms directly apply to the cardiac arrest population. The older cardiac arrest trials have limited relevance and there are no trials of hypertonic saline alone from which to draw recommendations.

Direct evidence from traumatic cardiac arrest trials was limited to a subgroup analysis within a study evaluating blood products in patients with hemorrhagic shock (Crombie et al., 2022). Given the distinct pathophysiology of hemorrhagic shock and insufficient direct evidence, no recommendation for specific volume therapies in traumatic cardiac arrest could be made, and practitioners should follow local trauma resuscitation guidelines for managing trauma patients (Rossaint et al., 2023). The routine use of blood products in non-traumatic cardiac arrest remains uncertain and should be limited to the context of clinical trials.

The task force emphasizes that volume resuscitation remains appropriate when hypovolemia is suspected or confirmed as a cause of cardiac arrest.

EtD Tables: ALS 3207 Table Et D Traumatic arrest volume therapy; ALS 3207 Table Et D Intra arrest volume therapy; ALS 3207 Table Et D Post arrest volume therapy

Knowledge Gaps

  • Trials comparing volume therapy to no volume therapy in patients presumed to be normovolemic during cardiac arrest
  • The optimal type, timing, rate, and dose of volume therapy during and after cardiac arrest
  • Restrictive compared to liberal volume therapy after cardiac arrest
  • Effect modification by specific subgroups of cardiac arrest
  • Cost-effectiveness of volume therapy strategies

References

References listed alphabetically by first author last name in this citation format (Circulation)

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