Evolution of the use of intraosseous vascular access in prehospital advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation: The IOVA‐CPR study.

Introduction: Obtaining vascular access is crucial in critically ill patients. The EZ‐IO® device is easy to use and has a high insertion success rate. Therefore, the use of intraosseous vascular access (IOVA) has gradually increased. Aim: We aim to determine how IOVA was integrated into management of vascular access during out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) resuscitation. Methods: Analysing the data from the OHCA French registry for events occurring between 1 January 2013 and 15 March 2021, we studied: demography, circumstances of occurrence and management including vascular access, delays and evolution. The primary outcome was the rate of IOVA implantation. Results: Among the 7156 OHCA included in the registry, we analysed the 3964 (55%) who received cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The vascular access was peripheral in 3122 (79%) cases, intraosseous in 775 (20%) cases and central in 12 (<1%) cases. The use of IOVA has increased linearly (R2 = 0.61) during the 33 successive trimesters studied representing 7% of all vascular access in 2013 and 33% in 2021 (p = 0.001). It was significantly more frequent in traumatic cardiac arrest: 12% versus 5%; p < 0.0001. The first epinephrine bolus occurred significantly later in the IOVA group, at 6 (4–10) versus 5 (3–8) min; p < 0.0001. Survival rate in the IOVA group was significantly lower, at 1% versus 7%; p < 0.0001. Conclusion: The insertion rate of IOVA significantly increased over the studied period, to reach 30% of all vascular access in the management OHCA patients. The place of the intraosseous route in the strategy of venous access during the management of prehospital cardiac arrest has yet to be determined. Summary statement: What is already known about this topic? How the intraosseous vascular access was integrated into the vascular approach during the medical resuscitation of out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest remains unknown What this paper adds? The use of intraosseous access strongly increased (more than 400%) between 2013 and 2021, exceeding 30% of all vascular access in OHCA in 2021.The outcome of OHCA patients treated with intraosseous access was less favourable. The implications of this paper: The use of intraosseous venous access increased despite the lack of evidence supporting this practice.More studies are required to precisely determine the place of the intraosseous route and its impact on the prognosis of cardiac arrest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]