Magnesium sulfate in the treatment of refractory ventricular fibrillation in the prehospital setting.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Magnesium Sulfate.

Who Took Part

PubMed indexes the participants as teenagers, adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

Eligible patients were non-traumatic cardiac arrest patients (> or =18 years of age) presenting in VF.

The protocol included those patients refractory to three electroshocks.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and multicenter.

Because people in this Magnesium Sulfate study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

As a double-blind Magnesium Sulfate study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

Some participants received a placebo instead of Magnesium Sulfate, giving a reference point.

Running at several centres spread the Magnesium Sulfate study over different clinics and patient groups.

The primary outcome variable was return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in the field and a perfusing pulse on arrival at the ED.

Secondary endpoints included admission to the hospital (ADMT) and hospital discharge (DISC).

IRB approval was obtained at all participating centers.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Anti-Arrhythmia Agents, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Combined Modality Therapy, Emergency Medical Services, Heart Arrest, Magnesium Sulfate and New Jersey.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Magnesium Sulfate.

Its findings take up roughly 4 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2001 (Resuscitation), a journal based in Ireland.

More context: all human trials.