Hypertonic Saline Use in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Hypertonic saline is used in some countries during resuscitation of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, but the practice is uncommon in the U.S. Using a German resuscitation registry, researchers performed a retrospective case-control analysis of adults with return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) following nontraumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. They compared outcomes for 322 matched pairs of patients who received 2 mL/kg hypertonic saline with hydroxyethyl starch infused over a 10-minute period during resuscitation and patients who did not receive this treatment; pairs were matched for 14 variables.

Based on analysis of variables including age, initial rhythm, and time to arrival of health professionals, the investigators p…