Effect of Vasopressin and Epinephrine in Cardiac Arrest Outcome in Patients with Asystole Rhythm

Introduction & The most persistent rhythm in the treatment of cardiac arrest is asys-tole. In this situation، the survival is rare. The choice is epinephrine، and vasopressin is as an alternative drug. The study purpose is to compare the effects of vasopressin and epinephrine on the outcome of asystole rhythm. This clinical trial was performed on 210 patients with asystole rhythm. 105 patients received epinephrine (group1) and 105 patients'' vasopressin (group 2) as the first drug. American heart association guideline (2010) was performed on both groups. Then data collection (age، sex، return of spontaneous circulation، survival of first hour، first day and first month، heart rate after 10 minutes resuscitation and survival to discharge) were evaluated. These data were analyzed by SPSS 18 software. There were no significant difference in sex، age، return of spontaneous circulation، survival of first hour، first day and first month after resuscitation between the two groups. But there was a significant difference in post resuscitation heart rate after 10 minutes in group 2 compared to group 1، which was lower in group 2. As tachycardia due to receiving vasopressin is less than that of epinephrine، it may be more effective on survival in some conditions such as its combination with other drugs، administration of multiple doses of vasopressin or acidosis. Although، further studies are needed.