Sequence of advanced airway management and epinephrine administration for paediatric patients with non-shockable out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

Background Despite the frequent use of both advanced airway management (AAM) and epinephrine during resuscitation, no studies have evaluated the optimal sequencing of these interventions in paediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). We therefore aimed to investigate the association between the sequence of AAM and epinephrine administration and outcomes in paediatric patients with OHCA with non-shockable rhythms. Methods This retrospective observational study analysed data from a multicentre OHCA registry in Japan from 2014 to 2022. We included paediatric patients (aged <18 years) with non-shockable OHCA who received AAM (endotracheal intubation or supraglottic airway device placement) and/or epinephrine administration. The primary outcome was 1-month survival, and the secondary outcomes were 1-month favourable neurological outcome (defined as a paediatric cerebral performance category of 1–3) and the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was applied based on propensity scores to address imbalances in patient characteristics. Results Of the 952 paediatric patients with non-shockable OHCA (median age (IQR) 2 (0–14) years), 577 (61%) were male. Of these, 455 and 497 belonged to the AAM-first and epinephrine-first groups, respectively. After IPTW, all covariates were well balanced between the AAM-first and epinephrine-first groups (standardised mean difference ≤0.10). Compared with the epinephrine-first group, the AAM-first group showed similar 1-month survival (adjusted OR (aOR), 1.09; 95% CI 0.61 to 1.86), favourable neurological outcome at 1 month (aOR, 0.79; 95% CI 0.12 to 5.07) and ROSC (aOR, 0.98; 95% CI 0.72 to 1.35). Conclusions The sequence of AAM and epinephrine administration was not associated with 1-month survival, favourable neurological outcome at 1 month or ROSC in paediatric patients with non-shockable OHCA.