Introduction

In 2012, the Reassessment Campaign on Veterinary Resuscitation (RECOVER) published evidence-based cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) guidelines, and their implementation significantly improved return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) rates at a Japanese veterinary hospital. The aim of this study was to compare CPR outcomes at a Swiss veterinary teaching hospital before and after publication of the RECOVER guidelines.

Methods

From 2018 to 2020, RECOVER-based didactic and hands-on CPR training sessions for hospital staff were conducted once per year. Medical records of patients that suffered cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA) and underwent CPR during that time period (post-RECOVER) and from 2010 to 2012 (pre-RECOVER) were identified, and animal, arrest, and outcome variables recorded retrospectively. Variables between groups were compared using Fisher’s exact test and significance set at p<0.05.

Results

Fifty-one dogs and 30 cats were included in the pre-RECOVER group and 113 dogs and 77 cats in the post-RECOVER group. Respiratory failure was the most common suspected cause of CPA in both the pre-RECOVER (23/81, 28%) and post-RECOVER (66/190, 35%) group. Nineteen of eighty-one (23%) animals in the pre-RECOVER group and 53/190 (28%) in the post-RECOVER group achieved ROSC, which was not significantly different (p=0.55). Survival to hospital discharge in the pre-RECOVER group was achieved in 1/81 (1%) animal and in the post-RECOVER group in 7/190 (4%) animals, which was not significantly different (p=0.44). Pre-RECOVER ROSC rates in this study were similar to pre-RECOVER ROSC rates reported by a recent Japanese study (23% vs. 17%, p=0.42), while post-RECOVER ROSC rates remained significantly lower compared to post-RECOVER ROSC rates at a Japanese animal hospital (28% vs. 44%, p<0.02).

Conclusions

Yearly RECOVER-based didactic and hands-on CPR teaching at our institution did not significantly improve ROSC and survival to hospital discharge rates. Our failure to demonstrate the improved post-RECOVER patient outcomes previously reported could suggest that once-yearly CPR training is insufficient, that guideline benefit is limited, or that compliance with RECOVER guideline recommendations during CPR efforts is too poor to have a positive impact. More extensive CPR training protocols should be established, and the compliance with and outcome benefits of a RECOVER-based CPR approach reevaluated prospectively.

Disclosures

Disclosures to report: Author SNH works as a CPR trainer for the RECOVER initiative and is part of the RECOVER initiative CPR registry committee. These tasks are done on a volunteer basis and the research presented in this abstract was neither initiated nor compensated for by the RECOVER initiative.