Changing Risk of In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Children Following Cardiac Surgery in Victoria, Australia, 2007–2016

Abstract

Background: Reported incidence of in hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) after paediatric cardiac surgery varies between 3–4% in high income countries and this risk may have changed over time. We sought to examine this trend in detail. Methods: A retrospective observational study of 3,781 children who underwent 4,938 cardiac surgeries between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2016 in a tertiary children's hospital. IHCA was defined as cessation of cardiac mechanical activity requiring cardiac massage for ≥1 minute. Surgical complexity was categorised using risk adjusted congenital heart surgery (RACHS-1) category. Poisson regression was used to analyse trends for every two-year period. Results: Ther..