The Pharmacologic Management of Cardiac Arrest

The effectiveness of pharmacologic management of cardiac arrest patients is widely debated; however, several studies published in the past 5 years have begun to clarify some of these issues. This article covers the current state of evidence for the effectiveness of the vasopressor epinephrine and the combination of vasopressin-steroids-epinephrine and antiarrhythmic medications amiodarone and lidocaine and reviews the role of other medications such as calcium, sodium bicarbonate , magnesium, and atropine in cardiac arrest care. We additionally review the role of β-blockers for refractory pulseless ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation and thrombolytics in undifferentiated cardiac arrest and suspected fatal pulmonary embolism .