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Current American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines recommend amiodarone as first-line treatment for pulseless ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation (VT/VF) that is not responsive to defibrillation. However, evidence for this approach is limited, especially in the pediatric population. Evidence on the efficacy of lidocaine in the pediatric population is also limited.
To assess the effects of amiodarone and lidocaine, investigators retrospectively analyzed data for inpatients younger than 18 with pulseless VT/VF who underwent chest compressions for at least two minutes at 242 hospitals from 2000 to 2008. Eligible patients had not received lidocaine or amiodarone before the arrest.
Of 889 patients, 19% were given amiodarone, 33% were…