AIM: The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the association between chest compression rates and 1) arterial blood pressure and 2) survival outcomes during pediatric in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

METHODS: Prospective observational study of children ≥37 weeks gestation and <19 years old who received CPR in an intensive care unit (ICU) as part of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Quality of CPR Study (PICqCPR) of the Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network (CPCCRN). Arterial blood pressure and compression rate were determined from manually extracted arterial line waveform data during the first 10 min of CPR. The primary outcome was survival to hospital discharge. Modified Poisson regression models assessed the association between rate categories (80-<100, 100-120 [Guidelines], >120-140, >140) and outcomes.

RESULTS: Compression rate data were available for 164 patients. More than half (98/164; 60%) were <1 year old. Return of circulation was achieved in 148/164 (90%); survival to hospital discharge in 77/164 (47%). Percentage of events with average rate within Guidelines was 32.9%. Compared to Guidelines, higher rate categories were associated with lower systolic blood pressures (>120-140, p = 0.010; >140, p = 0.077), but not survival. A rate between 80-<100 per minute was associated with a higher rate of survival to hospital discharge (aRR 1.92, CI95 1.13, 3.29, p = 0.017) and survival with favorable neurological outcome (aRR 2.12, CI95 1.09, 4.13, p = 0.027) compared to Guidelines.

CONCLUSION: Non-compliance with compression rate Guidelines was common in this multicenter cohort. Among ICU patients, slightly lower rates were associated with improved outcomes compared to Guidelines.