Modern principles of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in pediatric practice

Quality improvement of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is one of the most urgent problems in pediatric anesthesiology, resuscitation and intensive care. Despite the fact that in recent years the number of surviving children after cardiopulmonary resuscitation is constantly increasing, the number of young children among them, still small, which requires further improvement of provision of intensive care, especially in the pre-hospital stage. In the last two decades the protocols of cardiopulmonary resuscitation are regularly changed and supplemented every five years, which helps to improve outcomes of resuscitative measures. In October/November 2015 came the next recommendations of American Heart Association and European Resuscitation Council for basic and advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation in children, which is reflected in this article. Using these recommendations will significantly improve the quality of the provision of intensive care to children and contribute to a more favorable neurological outcome even after a sudden circulatory arrest. This publication reflects the epidemiological evidence on the effectiveness and outcomes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in pediatric practice, the modern principles of basic and advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation in children are considered in detail, special attention is given to the use of drugs and defibrillation during resuscitation. Excerpts from the regulating documents governing the termination of resuscitation and ascertaining biological death are presented in this article.