Introduction:

In-hospital (IH) cardiac arrest (CA) is a complication in patients with serious diseases. The intensivist doctor plays an important role in its attention. In Mexico there are no publications on IH CA.

Objective:

To determine the demographic and other characteristics of the episode of IH CA.

Material and methods:

Retrospective, descriptive study. From January 1st, 2014 to July 31st, 2017. Forty-two patients who presented IH CA were included. The statistical analysis was performed with measures of central tendency.

Results:

Characteristics of the patients: 23 men (55%) with a mean of 72 years ± 19.55; 19 women (45%) with a mean of 71 years ± 16.89. The most frequent electrical presentation was the electrical activity without a pulse (in 47% of the patients), asystole (in 36 %). The interventions in the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) were found to have a time of attention of 1.8 min ± 1.4 min, with a duration of the CPR of 13.2 min, with the recovery of spontaneous circulation in 23 patients (55%) and no response in 19 (45%).

Discussion:

Men dominated; 17% of the patients presented VT/VF and 83% PEA/asystole, as reported in the literature.

Conclusions:

Although the network of support and training in CPR in our hospital plays an important role in the care of patients with IH CA, we believe that integrating rapid response teams would improve their survival.