Continuous electrocardiographic monitoring and cardiac arrest outcomes in 8,932 telemetry ward patients

Objective: To estimate the benefit ofroutine electrocardiographic (ECG) tel emetry monitoring on in-hospital cardiac arrest survival. Methods: In a ter tiary care hospital, all telemetry ward admissions and cardiac arrests occu rring over a five-year period were reviewed. Ward location and survival to discharge were determined for all patients outside of critical care areas. Results: During the study period, 8,932 patients were admitted to the telem etry ward, and 20 suffered cardiac arrest (0.2%; 95% CI = 0.1 to 0.3). Tele metry monitors signaled the onset of cardiac arrest in only 56% (95% CI = 3 0 to 80) of monitored arrests. Three patients survived to discharge, and in two of these three patients the arrest onset was signaled by the monitor. This yields a monitor-signaled survival rate among telemetry ward patients of 0.02% (95% CI = 0 to 0.05). All survivors suffered significant arrhythmi as prior to their cardiac arrests. Conclusions: Cardiac arrest is an uncomm on event among telemetry ward patients, and monitor-signaled survivors are extremely rare. Routine telemetry offers little cardiac arrest survival ben efit to most monitored patients, and a more selective policy for telemetry use might safely avoid ECG monitoring for many patients.