Intramuscular versus intravenous epinephrine administration in a pediatric porcine model of cardiopulmonary resuscitation

Abstract

Background

American Heart Association Pediatric Life Support guidelines recommend epinephrine administration via intravenous (IV) or intraosseous (IO) route, with endotracheal (ET) administration admissible in the absence of IV/IO access. Establishing IV/IO/ET access can take several minutes and may require proficient skills and/or specific equipment, which may not be readily available in all situations. Alternatively, intramuscular (IM) epinephrine could be administered immediately. At present, there is limited data on the use of IM epinephrine in pediatric resuscitation.

Aim

To compare IM with IV epinephrine in a pediatric porcine model of asphyxia-induced cardiac arrest. We hypothesized that in a pediatric animal model of cardiac arrest, IM epinephrine would result in a similar time to achieve return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) to IV epinephrine.

Methods

Twenty pediatric piglets (5–10 days old) were anesthetized and asphyxiated by clamping the endotracheal tube. Piglets were randomized to IM or IV epinephrine with bradycardic or asystolic cardiac arrest (n = 5/group) and were resuscitated. Time to ROSC was recorded; blood plasma was collected throughout resuscitation for measurement of epinephrine concentration; heart rate, arterial blood pressure, carotid blood flow, cardiac function, and cerebral oxygenation were continuously recorded throughout the experiment.

Results

Time to ROSC and the number of piglets that achieved ROSC were comparable between IM and IV epinephrine groups with either bradycardic or asystolic cardiac arrest.

Conclusions

In a pediatric piglet model of bradycardic and asystolic cardiac arrest, administration of IM epinephrine resulted in similar resuscitative outcomes to IV epinephrine. Although immediate IM epinephrine injection may provide a first-line treatment option until subsequent IV/IO access is established, large, randomized trials are needed to confirm our finding before it can be used during pediatric resuscitation.