Prophylactic Antibiotics Reduced Pneumonia in Comatose Cardiac Arrest Survivors

Prophylactic antibiotics have been shown to reduce rates of pneumonia in intubated patients with structural brain injuries but have not been studied in cardiac arrest survivors. This international, retrospective cohort study evaluated outcomes for 1240 cardiac arrest survivors who were treated with therapeutic hypothermia. Overall, 416 patients (34%) received prophylactic antibiotics (defined as antibiotics given per the institution's protocol before an infection was diagnosed). The proportion of patients receiving prophylactic antibiotics varied widely by center.

Patients who received prophylactic antibiotics had significantly lower rates of pneumonia (12.6% vs. 54.9%) and sepsis (1.2% vs. 5.7%) than those who did not receive them. Incidenc…